The KakaNaru Dumpsite
by S c h e m a t i c
Summary: This is a collection of all stories that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none. All KakaNaru prompts are accepted, no matter what it entails. One person can have more than one prompt; there is no limit.
1. Scars

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. If I did, I'd be filthy rich and I'd have a bathroom upstairs. Since I don't… well, suffice it to say, it means I don't own Naruto whatsoever. But, if you _really _want to investigate… be my guest. If you find any money along the way, give it back to me.

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or,  
if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing, give me a word (for example: Rudolf)**)**

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

* * *

**Schematic  
****Scars  
**_Naruto is ashamed of his scars._

The one thing Naruto is quietly envious of is Hatake Kakashi's mask. If anyone were to catch on to his enviousness, and ask why he's so envious, he would rebuke them and claim that having a mask causes 'mystery' and 'coolness'. But privately, in the comfort of his own head, he's envious of the _security_.

By the time he's old enough, he's self-conscious of the scars on his cheeks. He doesn't realise what they are when he's young (but they're a permanent fixture on his face, so he gets used to them and, in his young mind, they're _awesome_) but now that he knows where his scars came from, he's _ashamed_. The scars on his cheeks are everything that's wrong with his life, and when he gets Hatake Kakashi as his teacher, he starts to wonder if that's the reason the man hides _his _face. Is the man as ashamed of his face as Naruto is of his scars? The first time he sees the man with the mask, envy hits his body like a kunai - sharp and deadly - but he hides it. He hides his envy behind his usual, obnoxiously loud and happy self and no one is the wiser.

His scars represent his status as a jinchuuriki, and shows the villagers of Konoha who he is. When that envy hits him, he wishes he had a mask like Kakashi's when he was younger; that way he'd keep his identity and no one would realise that yes, he _is _the jinchuuriki to the nine-tailed fox. He could've been a normal boy if no one had seen his _scars_.

"What are you up to there, Naruto?" a familiar voice asks. He's suddenly slapped out of his daze and he turns towards the voice, startled. The owner of the voice, Kakashi, is leaning against the door frame, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

"Ah, you know," Naruto mutters, adjusting his position on the desk he'd been sitting on, "just thinking."

The man wanders in, bemused. "Thinking."

"Mhm," Naruto replies and Kakashi stands in front of him. The man leans down so they're equal in height and eye-level to each other and continues to stare at Naruto.

"Thinking about what?"

"Your mask," Naruto says truthfully and watches as the skin not covered by his mask starts to heat. He smiles and reaches out to the mask and pulls it down to the man's neck. Kakashi continues to stand there, his back bent; he doesn't move and he doesn't speak. After a while of just staring, Kakashi leans forward and pressed his lips against Naruto's.

"Well, you don't have to worry about it now," he says when he pulls back.

Naruto smiles. The mask doesn't make him envious anymore, because what the scars used to mean to him doesn't now; he's no longer ashamed of his scars.

* * *

**Schematic: **_You know, when I separated my letters for my username, the only letter that would show up was the letter c._


	2. Young Kakashi

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. If you even _think _I do, then you're wrong and I hate you. Go sue someone else.

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or, if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing, give me a word (for example: bunny)**)**

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

* * *

**Schematic  
A young Kakashi is an adorable Kakashi  
**_Kakashi is young._

_Young Kakashi is kind of cute_, Naruto thinks to himself - and then his face twists into a horrified grimace. The word _cute _has never been used in reference to Kakashi; sexy, hot, lazy, perverted, incredible, yes. Cute? No. Fuck no. Anyone that even _thinks _of Kakashi as _cute _is dead. He likes his life, thank you. He avoids the eyes staring at him in confusion and continues to eat his ramen. He _refuses _to be embarrassed by his thoughts and his reaction to it, so he'll continue to think other thoughts. But, his thoughts still stray to his young sensei, who is sitting between an Uchiha - named Obito - and Rin (and he really has no idea what clan she comes from, but he's sure those markings on her face can be contributed to the Inuzuka - but hey, he's usually always wrong), with a scowl firmly in place.

Don't ask Naruto how he knows that's a scowl, because that leads to some rather _awkward _questions. His _sensei _is scowling, and it's _utterly adorable_. His face (from what little he can see of it) is just in the beginning stages of losing its baby-fat and it looks very boyish - and by boyish, he really just means _young_. He's never seen a scowl on his sensei - usually because he's always either smiling or blank faced - and this, he thinks, is absolutely _precious_.

He's three years older than Kakashi - and Naruto gets a kick every time he mentions it or thinks it - which is weird, but finally, _he _can be the one towering over Kakashi. His boyfriend (or lover, whatever you wish to call him) always gets a kick out of being taller (slightly, Naruto always grumbles back half-heartedly) than Naruto and this time, _Naruto _can get a kick out of it. Privately, of course - because his ickle sensei doesn't know that he's from the future.

Hell, no one does except the Third - and he'd like to keep it that way, thank you very much.

The boy - still scowling - pushes away from the table and stalks out of the stall. His team mates quickly follow suit and don't even bother to pay for their food. Grumbling, Naruto pays for them all - his poor Gama-chan, all empty! - and follows them at a sedate pace.

"Oi, Gaki," he calls to Kakashi and the boy stops and whirls around. There's a glare fixed to his scowl and Naruto fights the urge to grin and cackle in glee. "What's gotten up your ass and died?"

The girl - Rin - makes a horrified noise. "Naru - NARUTO!"

Obito, on the other hand, collapses into peals of laughter. "You - ! Kakashi - !" he snickers into his hand and turns away from them. His shoulders are shaking. "I can't -" he breathes, gasping, "I can't believe - no one's -" and then he continues to laugh.

Kakashi's glare intensifies and starts to walk away from them. His two team mates scramble to follow him and Naruto just follows, a grin finally plastered on his face.

* * *

Naruto hums, running his fingers through Kakashi's hair. It's soft and beautiful, and the best thing about it, is that it's _utterly adorable _on a young Kakashi. "So… what was your problem earlier?"

The boy sits up, disentangling from Naruto's hands. He's disappointed and he pouts, leaning forward to put his fingers in the softness again. Kakashi continues to lean away from him until the boy finally scoots back away from him. "Nothing," he mutters and turns his head away. There's a hint of pink on his ears and above his mask and Naruto smiles.

"Are you suuuure?" he asks.

"Yes," the boy grumbles.

The image is too cute; the boy is _pouting_. Quickly, so he doesn't pass the opportunity up, he leans forward and kisses the boy's nose. A strangled noise leaves Kakashi's throat. He gets up from where he was sitting quickly and throws a, "gotta go, see you, bye!" over his shoulder as he races towards the window. He jumps out of it and can't help himself from looking back as he does so.

The boy's face is turning red.

* * *

"So," Obito says, leaning his elbows casually on the table before him.

"So," Naruto repeats, raising an eyebrow. He receives an amused huff from Rin for his efforts.

"What's going on between you and Kakashi?" Obito asks, and there's a choking noise. They both turn to see Kakashi turning a deep red, and Rin smacking her chest, her eyes watering. Obito turns back to him and raises an eyebrow.

Feeling mischievous, he waggles his eyebrows. "Oh, you know," he leers, "this and that."

The three younger kids splutter and, using the opportunity that has been presented to him, he vanishes.

The sounds of them cursing is music to his ears.

* * *

A month later, Kakashi stands in his door jam, his arms crossed over his chest. "Naruto," he says firmly.

It's typical Kakashi speak for _tell me what the fuck is going on now_, and he can't stop himself a helpless snort from escaping him. The younger Kakashi is a _riot _and he's adorable when he's flustered. He's never had the chance before to fluster his sensei (and boyfriend) back in his original time, because the man was stupidly _unflappable_. The man, in turn, could fluster Naruto for his own amusement whenever he could, _because _he could.

_The tables have turned, sensei_, Naruto cackles inside of his head. Visibly, he crosses his own arms against his chest and makes the same serious face Kakashi is using. "Kakashi," he says, in the exact same tone of voice.

The boy growls. "Naruto, stop it," he hisses, walks into the room and slams the door shut behind him. "Tell me what you're _doing _to me!"

"For a prodigy," Naruto says, slowly, "you're a bit of an idiot socially, aren't you?"

Kakashi just sends him a scathing glare in reply.

Naruto sighs. "Look… Kakashi," he says, stepping forward, "I've - well, I've been _teasing _you."

"But _why_?" the boy asks. It's utterly adorable and it breaks Naruto's heart; the boy doesn't even know he's been _flirting_. The boy is a far cry from what he is when he's older and that's… kind of sad. That's what he loved the most about his sensei. The _flirting _and the _peverseness_. Right now… the boy practically radiates _innocence._

_I need to corrupt him_, Naruto thinks and then, dazedly, _is this how Jiraiya felt when he saw me?_

"It's because… well," he says and sighs. He's not good with words when it matters like this. Frustrated, he just walks straight up to Kakashi, ignores the way the boy tenses, leans down and kisses the boy on the lips through the mask.

Kakashi's eyes widen and Naruto leans back.

_Why couldn't Kakashi from my time act like this sometimes?_ Naruto pouts inwardly. _Cute little innocent shit._

The next thing he knows, a fist is in his face.

* * *

"Look," Naruto whines, "I'm sorry for surprising you."

Kakashi ignores him.

_Fine, two can play at that game._

* * *

A week later, Naruto stands in front of Kakashi and gives him an orange book. It's the first in its series and he knows Kakashi is going to love it, but it's embarrassing nevertheless giving a thirteen year-old porn. The boy is curious and turns to the back page and, instantly, his jaw slackens.

"You…" the boy says.

"Yes?" he asks, innocently.

"YOU GOT ME PORN?!" Kakashi yells and throws the book at Naruto's head.

"Oi," Naruto grumbles, picking up the book, "it's a present, so don't just _throw it at me like that_!" Naruto yells back, throwing the book back at Kakashi. "_You damn well better like it_!"

* * *

Kakashi's dazed. Naruto exploits this. He has to use everything to his advantage, right? Well, seeing Kakashi - an adorably young Kakashi - dazed, he immediately hones in on the boy. He has no idea what has caused Kakashi's dazedness, but he'll take the distraction.

Carefully, he leans down and kisses the boy on the forehead and leans back. He gets no reaction and he frowns. "Kakashi…?"

"You love me," the boy says, in a strangled voice. It's odd, it's amusing, it's adorable… but most of all it's odd. _Where the hell did that come from?_

"Yes…?" Naruto asks, confused. _Haven't we been through this?_

"You love me," he repeats, flatly.

"Yes," Naruto says again. _What the fuck, did Kakashi just realise this now?_

Shrugging, Naruto kisses the boy on the forehead. He's surprised, however, when afterwards, he's pulled into a hug.

_Well, even if I'm not getting a confession in return… this is pretty acceptable, regardless._

* * *

These last few months with a younger Kakashi has made Naruto realise something important:

Kakashi's a goof.

* * *

**Schematic: **_-shrugs- I liked it. _


	3. What the hell, Kakashi

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, I don't think I ever will, but when I do… you can bet your ass I'll fuck up the plotline well. Exceptionally well, might I add.

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or, if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing, give me a word (for example: bunny)**)**

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

* * *

**Schematic  
What the hell, Kakashi-sensei?  
**_Kakashi-sensei is half-naked._

Naruto's pretty damn sure he's never encountered _anything _like this before. Hell, he's pretty sure he'll never experience it _ever again_, but. But. It doesn't make sense and so his brain slowly - and carefully - short-circuits. His eyes are no longer connected to his brain, but three words successfully come to his mind. _What the_ _fuck_. Because hey.

_His sensei was lying in Naruto's bed. _

Well, he's experienced this before; a year ago, perhaps, when Kakashi had come to his house because he was too tired to go to his. He'd stolen his bed, made himself at home, ate his food and left the next day, without Naruto being aware of it. But this. This, he's sure, tops that experience, because Kakashi - Kakashi -

_Why is he half naked, _Naruto thinks. It's not even a question because - yes, he's seen his sensei half naked before - because, _he's half naked_. His eyes are wide, his brain has stopped and he's pretty damn sure all of his blood doesn't know where to go first.

"Yo," Kakashi says and gives a two fingered salute. He gets no response because Naruto continues to just stand in the doorway, mute and deaf. He's not blind - as much as he'd like to be - and so he just continues to look at his sensei. The man lazily stretches, his body arching off of the mattress. The hand holding his porn - and yes, Naruto can attest that Icha Icha Paradise is, in fact, porn (_don't ask him for details because hell, that's too damn embarrassing_) - slowly lets go of the book and it tumbles to the floor.

Naruto stares, because. _That's Kakashi's favourite book. _

"What - sensei - what are you - how - when," he starts and closes his mouth. His mouth isn't connected to his brain, either. He's pretty sure his brain isn't even working any more; too much skin is on display for anything - especially his brain - to work. He clears his throat. "What are you _doing_."

The man continues to lie there and just raises an eyebrow. "I _was _sleeping."

"In my bed," Naruto says flatly.

He gets a crinkled eye-smile in response. "Yes."

Silence descends on them and Kakashi slowly sits up and pats the spot beside him. Confused, Naruto steps into the room, covers the distance to the bed and sits down next to Kakashi, a good distance between them. He continues to stare at the man, who watches him with an amused expression. He's not even sure how Kakashi can pull of expressions (what with his mask and all) and he's not even going to bother figuring it out. The next thing he knows, arms are being wrapped around his waist and he flails.

"Sensei," he squawks. He's pulled to a toned chest and he abruptly starts to blush. _Are you fucking serious. _The man just hums, the vibration slowly sinking into his skin. Kakashi then starts to play with his hair, lies down and pulls Naruto on top of him.

He's pretty damn sure his face is an unattractive colour of red.

"Sleep," the man tells him and Naruto starts to flail anew.

"IT'S _TWO IN THE AFTERNOON_!" he shrieks. The man winces at his volume, but keeps his arms steady surrounding him.

"Maa, Naruto," the man says, a pout obvious in his voice, "you don't want me to go deaf, do you?"

"I do," he responds. He actually does, because then maybe if he makes any embarrassing noises, no one will hear it - especially Kakashi.

"So mean," Kakashi sniffs. "But I don't care what time it is. You're sleeping, I'm sleeping, we're both sleeping. So sleep."

"Kakashi-sensei," he whines into the man's chest. "Let go."

He feels the slight shake of the mattress. "Nope."

"Kakashi-sensei…"

"I'm tired," the man whines back and then rolls over on top of Naruto -

and that, _that _is when Naruto ceases to think and breathe. Because, _Kakashi-sensei, what the fuck are you even doing_!? His mind screeches in mortification. The man smothers him into the mattress and just lies there, his weight an oppressive presence.

"If I sleep…" Naruto says, slowly, "will I be let go?"

The man hums. "No."

And then he's dead weight and asleep.

Huffing, Naruto closes his eyes and grumbles inwardly to himself. The next few seconds, he's asleep, too.

* * *

When he wakes up, he's alone. Slightly disappointed - but extremely relieved, nonetheless - he rolls out of bed and stretches. He looks over at the time and notices it's seven at night.

_Five hours_, he thinks to himself, slowly. _How is this even possible?_

"Naruto!" Kakashi calls, and Naruto startles. He whirls around and sees his sensei - still half-naked - sitting cross-legged on his kitchen table.

"Why are you on my _table_?" he breathes and then louder, "I _eat_ there!"

The man mock-gasps and leans backwards. "_Really_?"

"Yes!"

"I didn't know," the man says, still mocking, "I thought it was just… decoration. I didn't know you actually _eat _on this."

Naruto growls. "Shut up, sensei," he grumbles. The man pouts but continues to sit on the table, humming to himself. Shaking his head, Naruto walks to the kitchen, makes himself some ramen and eats it off the counter.

"I thought you eat at the table," the man says, mock confusion visible on his face. Naruto ignores him and takes a spoonful of noodles. Huffing, the man jumps off the table and stands in front of Naruto. Still ignoring him, Naruto leans casually on the counter.

The next thing Naruto knows, he's being boxed into the counter, arms on either side of him. He tries to ignore him, but his face flushes nevertheless. He spies a hidden grin on the man, before he's being kissed. He gasps, confused, and the man winks at him. Naruto doesn't move, neither does he show that he actually _comprehends _what's going on, and then Kakashi's gone.

_"KAKASHI_!" he yells.

His face is red, and he's sure this is going to be a _thing_, now that Kakashi's gone loopy.

… yeah, that's it. _Kakashi-sensei's loopy._

* * *

**Schematic: **_... loopy Kakashi-sensei, anyone?__  
_


	4. You little shit

**Disclaimer: **Me? Owning Naruto? Can you honestly, with all of your heart, say that _I _own Naruto? No? Yeah, that's right, I don't own Naruto. How lame, right?

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or, if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing, give me a word (for example: cheese)**)**

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

* * *

**Schematic  
Kakashi, you little shit  
**_Kakashi is an adorable little shit._

When Naruto's handed a bundle of blankets from an amused Minato, he's wary and bemused. He doesn't even bother looking at the bundle in his arms, because _what the fuck, _why was he given blankets? _Heavy _blankets as well. _Why are the damn blankets so damn heavy!?_

"What," Naruto says flatly, eyeing his father dubiously, "is this?"

"Have a look at it," the man replies, impishly. His mouth is spread wide in a devastatingly amused grin and his eyes are crinkled. He eyes his father warily, because he wouldn't put it past the man to give him something embarrassing just so his mother can lord it over him.

When he looks down at the blankets, he's met with onyx eyes, bored eyes and a shock of silver hair. He freezes, completely shocked. _What_, is the only word in his head right now. He slowly looks from the baby Kakashi to stare up at his father, who continues to grin impishly. _Stop smiling like that, you bastard. _"What."

"We…" the man starts, but at the glare he receives, he sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. "We - my team and I - went out to do a B-rank mission and, we kind of… got into some trouble. Kakashi - Kakashi… kind of got into the wrong end of a reverse ageing Jutsu."

Naruto stares blankly at his father. "Really."

"And, uh, we needed someone we could trust to look after him because… we have another mission to get to?"

Naruto continues to stare at the man, and he raises his eyebrow slowly. "You want _me_," he says, incredulously, "to look after him."

"Yes."

"_Me_?"

The man sheepishly grins. "Yes?"

Naruto sighs explosively. "How long are you going to be gone? When… when does Kakashi turn _back_?"

"Ah… Naruto," the man starts cautiously and Naruto instantly turns suspicious. _What now? _"We'll be gone… for two weeks. He'll age every day by a year."

"How old is he now?" Naruto asks flatly and looks down at Kakashi, who just continues to observe him in return, silently.

"… a few months old?"

Naruto lets out a shaky breath and turns around. Every muscle he has in his body tenses, and he doesn't know how he's going to react. His idiot, _idiot _father has decided to make _Naruto _deal with this? Seriously, _him_? He doesn't even _know _how to look after babies! But, as he continues to stare at the silent child, he wonders at how hard it can possibly be.

* * *

Four hours later, after his father has left, he immediately regrets thinking that. He has no idea how Kakashi can scream that loudly, but he's sure it's going to break something - and soon. He immediately picks up the boy, who continues to cry in his ear. _He has no idea what the fuck he's doing. Why didn't his father ask _his MOTHER? Surely Kushina would know how to look after children! He had Naruto, _didn't she_?!

He completely forgets that he hasn't even been born yet and ignores everything else. Because, seriously, he's never had any contact with children except for Konohamaru, and that was when he was _five_. Well, he doesn't know Konohamaru's exact age… _screw it_, he didn't care anyway. The fact of the matter is that he has no idea what he's doing, he's never been around children and he doesn't know what to _do_. He pats Kakashi on the back, who stops screaming and just whimpers instead.

Then, to Naruto's utter horror, he smells something… _disgusting_. _Please don't tell me… yes, he has. _Why did every deity hate him, seriously? He doesn't want to intrude on Kakashi's space, neither does he want to… _ever_ change his diaper.

Pausing, he starts to smile. _I can't wait to tell Kakashi this when he's back to his original age._

—-

The next morning, he wakes up to a face full of Kakashi. The boy, who had been lying next to him all night, was in his face and staring curiously. His eyes tracked all of Naruto's face and then, much to Kakashi's delight, he grabs a fistful of Naruto's hair. Naruto grunts and starts to disentangle himself from Kakashi to no avail; as soon as he's got Kakashi away from his hair, his eyes start to water.

Grumbling, Naruto grabs hold of Kakashi and snuggles into him. The boy wiggles, but he continues to hold on stubbornly. "Kakashi, stop."

Kakashi turns around in his hold and stares at Naruto, his eyes still watering. Shaking his head, Naruto lets go of the boy and, as soon as he lets go, the boy starts to pat Naruto's cheeks, quietly giggling all the while.

_Why does his younger self have to be so damn cute? _Naruto thinks grumpily.

* * *

The next day, Kakashi's two, and now that he's that age, he starts to speak and he tries - very often - to go outside. Naruto, who has no intention of ever making Kakashi go outside, continues to trump his efforts.

"No Kaa-san," the boy grumbles, folding his arms over his chest grumpily.

_He called me Kaa-san_, Naruto thinks hysterically. "Not Kaa-san; Naruto."

"Kaa-san," the boy stubbornly says.

"Fine, fine," Naruto says, "but you're still not going outside."

"Kaa-saaaaaaan," Kakashi whines, and Naruto sighs. He knows he can't keep children inside all the time (hell, he hated it when _he _was that age) but he can't risk taking Kakashi outside; he's not like he usually is. Instead, he starts to distract the boy by picking the boy up, turning him upside down and tickling his sides.

The boy starts to shriek with laughter, but Naruto puts him back down on the floor the right way up. The boy pouts and raises his arms.

"Again," he demands.

* * *

"Kaa-san."

"No."

"Kaa-saaaaan!"

"No."

* * *

Kakashi's four when he stumbles into the bathroom where Naruto is bathing. Naruto turns shocked eyes onto the boy, his eyes widening. The boy simply tilts his head and scratches his cheek.

"Can I come in?" he asks carefully.

"No," Naruto says immediately. _No way in hell am I letting Kakashi in here. Holy fuck, this is my sensei… holy fuck, this is Kakashi. No._

The boy shrugs and then proceeds to take off his clothes. Spluttering, Naruto tries, with all of his might, to try go to get the boy to put his clothes back on. The boy studiously ignores him and then he gets into the bath.

Naruto sighs. _It doesn't matter. He's four, who cares? _

"Come here and let me wash your hair," Naruto says.

The boy eyes him suspiciously. "You just want to take off my mask."

"No," Naruto replies. He's not stupid - contrary to popular belief - and, he won't take advantage of this - Kakashi doesn't even have a fair advantage. The boy shrugs in response, and scoots over, his back to Naruto.

Naruto picks up the shampoo bottle, squirts some in his palms, and then into Kakashi's hair. He starts to massage, and he could swear he hears a purr coming from Kakashi.

"Naru-chan," the boy says and Naruto almost chokes - where does the boy come up with all these names? "I'm going to marry you some day."

Naruto freezes. _What_. He clears his throat. "Why?"

The boy shrugs. "Because you do thinks for me."

_I see._

* * *

Kakashi's five when he comes into Naruto's room, lies next to him and snuggles against him. His masked face is pushed up against Naruto's side, his arms wrapped around Naruto's torso.

"Why're you in here?" he asks, amused.

"Had a bad dream," Kakashi replies.

The room descends into a comforting silence and then they're both asleep.

* * *

"So Kakashi's still a chibi, eh?" Obito asks, laughter in his voice. Startled, Naruto stops brushing Kakashi's hair and turns to stare at the Uchiha.

"You're back?" he asks. Kakashi huffs and makes Naruto continue brushing his hair.

Obito stares at them amused. "That's adorable," he coos.

"We are not," Naruto says indignantly and Kakashi turns to stare at Obito thoughtfully then nods his head decisively.

"Naru-chan is cute," Kakashi adds, and his face turns confused when Naruto blushes and Obito laughs helplessly. Shrugging, the boy goes back to enjoying the ministrations happening to his hair.

"Kakashi - the - stuck up -" here, Obito snorts, "I can't - oh man, I can't wait until he's older!"

"Shhh!" Naruto hisses, his face red.

* * *

"Can I go outside now, Naru-chan?" Kakashi whines.

"Nooo," Naruto says in the same tone, shaking his head. "No."

The boy glares at him. "But I want to!"

"But you're not!"

* * *

When Obito walks into the house, it's to the glare of Kakashi; the one he gives when he's really pissed off at something. And, knowing him, he's probably pissed at Obito for some reason or another.

_No matter what age he is, he's still an asshole to me, _Obito grumbles to himself silently.

"Hey, chibi, where's Naruto?"

"In the shower," Kakashi whines petulantly and then scowls. "He won't let me shower with him."

_Ohhohoho? _"Do you usually shower with him?"

"I had a bath once with Naru-chan," Kakashi informs him. "He's nice washing me."

_Oh, I have so much over you now, Kakashi, _Obito cackles inwardly.

* * *

When Kakashi's asleep, Naruto turns to Obito helplessly."He's going to be ten tomorrow," he whines. "I have to wait another four days until he's back to his usual age! Obito, _help me_!"

Obito chuckles and shakes his head. "Sorry, Naruto, but I don't think that's going to be an option… considering how attached Kakashi is of you."

Naruto scowls at him. "He won't stop calling me Naru-chan. I can't wait until he's a bastard again."

Obito laughs. "Okay, okay… hm. Do you want me to take him?"

Naruto shakes his head. "I haven't let Kakashi outside since I got him from Minato-sensei." _It feels weird calling Dad by that, but… well, I can't exactly… call him anything else now, can I?_

"How about I find some games to play with, then?"

Naruto nods. "Okay then."

* * *

The next day, when Obito steps foot into the house, he's immediately given an _I hate you and wish you didn't exist _glare. Startled, he wonders what on earth he's done; he hasn't done _anything _to the chibi. Looking around, he notices Naruto isn't in the room.

"Where's Naruto?" he asks suspiciously.

"Asleep," the boy snaps and then he folds his arms in front of him. "You aren't right for Naru-chan."

_Aren't right…? What? _"What?" he asks stupidly.

"Naru-chan's better than a loser like you," Kakashi informs him, "and you'll just bring him down. Go away."

_Wow, he's gotten so childish, _Obito thinks, amused beyond belief, and then the words catch up to him. _Better? Let me guess…_

"You like Naruto, don't you?"

The boy raises an eyebrow, apparently completely unimpressed with his question. "Of course."

_He has no idea what I'm talking about, _Obito thinks and he gets light-headed. The prodigy not understanding something? The asshole being… _fascinated _by another person? It's… it's too good to be true.

_I am going to tease him so much._

* * *

The next few days pass in a blur and, on the fourteenth day, Kakashi wakes up his usual, grumpy self. He rolls over, intending to get out of bed when he feels a person in his bed. He freezes and puts his hand under the pillow for a kunai; finding none, he jumps out of bed and keeps his back to the wall, staring at the bed, where a lump lies.

He sees a tuft of blonde and, immediately, his face heats up.

"Naruto!" he screeches, completely taken aback.

Naruto bolts up right and turns towards him with a confused expression on his face. "Kakashi… what…?"

"What are you doing in my _bed_?" he asks, deliberately calm. The other boy eyes him, bemused.

"What do you mean _your _bed? Look around. That's _my _bed. Honestly," the blonde grumbles.

All of Kakashi's thoughts halt to a stop at those words.

_What._

* * *

Two hours later, they're met up by Obito, who immediately notices the tension in the air. He grins obnoxiously at them. "You're _back_," he crows, laughing. "You have _no idea _what's happened, _do_ you?"

"What are you on about, idiot?"

The brunette smirks at him.

* * *

An hour later, Kakashi sits there, red-faced. "I - you - I didn't ask you to marry me!"

Naruto shrugs. "You were four."

"_Four_," Kakashi chokes. "What… what else…"

"You had a crush on Naruto!" Obito howls, beating the table beneath him. "And you kept calling him _Naru-chan_!"

"You called me Kaa-san for a couple of days, too," Naruto replies, amused.

Kakashi chokes and he's sure he's not supposed to have this much blood in his face. _"What."_

His team mates both shrug. "It was fun while it lasted."

* * *

Kakashi sits on his bed, his head in his hands. He has no idea what he should do, because apparently while he was a child, he'd basically told Naruto _everything _about how he felt. He wasn't _supposed _to feel like this; his friend is three years older than him and he shouldn't like _Naruto _that way.

_Who cares, _he suddenly thinks. _Naruto didn't seem to mind._

He nods decisively to himself and disappears.

* * *

He stands in front of Naruto, who has a wide grin plastered on his face. It just makes him even more embarrassed. He clears his throat. "Can I… can you… Naruto," he sighs, and then pushes his shoulders back. "Close your eyes."

Naruto's confused, he can see, but the boy - nearly man - complies anyway, humming softly. He smiles, remembering the sound from those confusing couple of days. He moves in closely, braces himself and then leans into Naruto and kisses his lips through the mask. He immediately blushes and pulls back and waits for Naruto's reaction.

Naruto opens his eyes and smiles softly. "Is that what I think it was?"

Kakashi shifts, embarrassed beyond belief. "Maybe."

"Ah," he says, "well, I think I feel that way too."

And then it's Kakashi's turn to be kissed.

* * *

**Schematic: **_So, I just wanted an adorable Kakashi. And there it is._


	5. Happiness

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. No matter how much I wish otherwise, I don't, so shut your mouths.

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or, if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing, give me a word (for example: I hate everything)**)**

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

* * *

**Schematic  
My happiness is your happiness  
**_Naruto is happy._

"I'm going to die," Naruto says, turning to Kakashi. Kakashi's sitting next to him on a tree branch, reading. He turns a page, ignoring Naruto completely. He pouts. "Kakaashiiii," he whines, "didn't you hear me?"

"I heard you," Kakashi replies, his eyes never leaving the page he's on. "I just don't care."

"But I'm going to die," Naruto points out, "how can you not _care_?"

The man quirks an eyebrow. "Are you sure you can die from happiness, Naruto-kun?"

"Yeeeeeees," he draws out.

Kakashi, completely unfazed, raises his other eyebrow. "Oh," and then he ignores Naruto again.

The boy huffs, feeling cheated. He smiles to himself, then, a mischievous, evil smile, and then he yells out, "SEXY-NO-JUTSU!"

"Wait, Naruto, don't -"

Kakashi's panicked words fall on deaf ears, and Naruto sits there, in his female form, laying sensually across the branch. His body - or her, as the case may be at the moment - is bare, with no tufts of white covering his body. Kakashi, who, at this point had stopped looking at his book altogether, stares at him. His eyes are wide.

"I'm going to _die_," she purrs, looking up at him through her lashes, "from _happiness."_

In the next second, Kakashi's gone, a trail of red the only thing to keep Naruto company. With a poof, his Jutsu is gone. He swivels around carefully and sees Kakashi on the ground, surrounded by blood. He cackles.

_That'll teach him from ignoring me, _Naruto thinks.


	6. Not my Naru-chan!

**Disclaimer: **_Stop looking at me like that_! I don't own Naruto, you bastard! _Oi, you, _stop throwing _tomatoes at me_! I don't own Naruto so go throw tomatoes at someone –_ow, you little shit_!

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or,  
if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing,  
give me a word (for example: tomatoes)**)**

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

**WARNING: **_SPOILERS_! Yes, you read that right; your eyes aren't fooling you. This chapter contains things from _chapter 631_ in _Naruto_. I thought I'd warn you now before you got too far and realised _you had no idea what the hell is going on_.

* * *

**Schematic  
Prompt by harvestangel99:  
**Set during the war Edo-Minato's reaction to Kakashi and Naruto falling in love**  
Not my Naru-chan!  
**_Minato's reaction to Kakashi and Naruto falling in love_

When Minato arrives, the first two people he sees is his son – Naruto – and another girl, who has pink hair. At his arrival, his son stares at him, stupefied and the girl next to him glares at him. _Oi, I'm not the bad guy, _Minato grumbles inwardly. He takes a few steps forward and the only one who moves in the pink haired girl, who moves backwards each time.

"Relax, I'm one of the good guys," he says instead; it wouldn't do to start losing his cool. "Thanks for… accelerating my son's…" he pauses, catching them looking at each other. _Ohohoho? Is that… oh, it couldn't be, could it? Is that the girl my son was blabbing about? Is she… _"Are you, by any chance, his girlfriend?"

"_NO_!" the pink haired girl shrieks and hits Naruto over the head. His son rubs the back of his head, with a pout on his face. "I'm not – I'm not a _pervert_!"

"Ow, Sakura-chan…" Naruto whines. "I thought you were supposed to _heal _injuries! It's not my fault dad thought _you _were my girlfriend!"

The girl grumbles and puts her hands on her hips. "Well, I'm still not a pervert," she sniffs, "because only a _pervert _can put up with an idiot like you!"

Minato makes a horrified noise in the back of his throat and turns away from them. _MY NARU-CHAN IS DATING A PERVERT?! _He hears them faintly bickering behind him, but he's honestly not paying attention, because. Because. _My poor little Naru-chan_! _Dating a _pervert! _I'll have to ask Kakashi about this. Hopefully _he _knows something. _He turns back to the two when he nears no sounds from them and sees them staring at him weirdly. "What?" he snaps. _Aren't I allowed to have a little freak out once in a while_?!

"Nothing," they quickly say in unison and avoid looking at him.

Turning around, he quickly looks for his student, his eyes trying to find a tuft of shocking silver hair. Finding none – and feeling a little disappointed (hey, he wanted to see how Kakashi grew up!) – he turns back to the two. He has no idea who the girl is (but he can guess, what with his son calling the girl "Sakura-chan"), so he doesn't know what team she's on, or even if she's _on _a team (what with her wearing a chuunin vest) to ask where Kakashi is. Instead, he turns to his son to ask _him _for answers.

"Naruto, where's Kakashi? I thought you said he was your sensei?" Minato asks. He's slightly miffed, because he'd entrusted his son with Kakashi and the bastard wasn't even _looking after him_!

"He is," the boy says, embarrassed. He sees this and feels bemused; why was his son _embarrassed _to have Kakashi as his sensei? The boy, last time, basically waxed _poetically _about his sensei! Unless… _did the bastard embarrass Naruto? _He frowns inwardly. _Bastard, I'm going to have words with him… _"And Kakashi…" at the look Sakura sends him, he adds, "sensei, is over there." He points in a random direction and Minato is getting increasingly bemused. _What the hell is going on here?_

"Of course you know where Kakashi-sensei is," Sakura says with an eye roll and his son blushes. _Honest to fucking Kami blushes. _

"I see," he says slowly. _Why is my son blushing? What's going on? I bet Kakashi knows._

* * *

When Minato meets up with Kakashi, the younger man is frightened of him. He avoids eye contact and is tense, moving around Minato in a very skittish manner. He frowns. "Kakashi…" he warns. The man takes a few steps backwards away from Minato, raising his hands. "What're you doing?"

"Nothing," the man says quickly.

"You're acting weird," he points out. "What's wrong? Scared to see your sensei again?"

The man hesitates and says slowly, "No…?"

"You are," Minato says, frowning. His eyebrows furrow in confusion. "Why?"

"Why what?" the man asks.

"Why are you scared to see me?"

"I'm not scared to see you," the man says immediately and Minato knows, instantly, that he's lying. However, he has no idea _why_. He doesn't know why the man's lying, nor does he have any idea what he's lying _for_. But he knows the man is lying, and sooner or later, he'll find out why.

"Of course," Minato says, suspicion lingering in his voice. "Anyway," he moves in closely to Kakashi and brings him into a side-hug, the man tensing all the while, "I wanted to ask you about the pervert Naruto's dating."

"_Pervert_…?" Kakashi asks. His face is paling and Minato now knows Kakashi knows _something_. What, he has no idea, but the man knows _something _and that's good enough for Minato.

"Yes," Minato replies. "I heard from… Sakura was it?" at Kakashi's hesitant nod, he continues, "yes, I heard from Sakura that Naruto was dating a pervert. I thought you'd know about it. Can you tell me who the girl is?"

The man sighs in relief and Minato's instantly suspicious. _Everyone is acting so damn _weird _around me_! _What is going on_?! "She's… I… I can't say," the man admits. At Minato's murderous look, he pales some more. "Look, I really can't, Minato. You should… you should hear about it from Naruto!"

Minato stares at Kakashi for a while, still suspicious, but sighs, slumping. "I guess you're right," he grumbles, pouting. "I just wanted to see what she's like before I meet her, you know?"

"I know," Kakashi sighs, and then he says, under his breath, "this is going to be hell."

"Pardon, Kakashi?"

"Nothing," Kakashi immediately says and brightens, getting away from Minato. "Look, let's just go and help with the war that's going on, right? Because, you know… _we're in a war_."

Minato narrows his eyes at Kakashi as the man leaps away frantically. "Sure…"

_Something is definitely going on._

* * *

A couple of hours later, Minato is sick of killing things. All he wants to know, before he leaves (dies) again, is who Naruto is dating and everyone – even people Naruto _knows _– is being tight-lipped about it, and it's so damn _frustrating_!

"Just tell me who the _damn pervert is already_!" he yells at Kakashi. The man ignores him steadily and kills another thing. And that's really the only word Minato can describe it – it's a _thing_ with no sentience whatsoever. "_Kakashi_!"

The man continues to steadily ignore him. A few people who hear this exchange chuckle, and he turns around to glare at them. They instantly shut up, but as they turn their faces away from him, he notices sly smiles on their faces. _Ugh, why can't they just tell me? I have the right to know! I deserve to know!_ He growls, frustrated at everyone. Even his _son _had avoided telling him anything. _I just want to see how big of a pervert she is, really! My innocent little Naru-chan… getting corrupted by perverts…_

"Maa, Minato," Kakashi says, after he's killed a couple of _things_ (and, ugh, they're _disgusting_) and moves to stand beside Minato. "I think you should just… wait a while."

"_I've been waiting_," Minato snarls. "It's been _two hours_!"

"We're in the middle of _war_," the man says incredulously, "why can't you just wait until _later_?"

"Because I want to know now!"

Kakashi sighs and rubs his face tiredly. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Absolutely sure?"

"_Yes_!"

The man hums and then shakes his head. "You'll have to wait until _later_." He then, much to Minato's frustration, runs away.

"KAKASHI!" _You bastard_! _What happened to my cute little student that followed every order I gave him_?!

* * *

It's when they're speaking to Obito, Kakashi's former teammate, that Minato finds out about the pervert Naruto's dating – and it's by complete accident. Minato hangs back, listens for a while and then, much to his shock and confusion, he hears Naruto say something completely outrageous.

"You know I love you, Kakashi," the boy whispers. Minato stares for a while, and there's a _cute fucking smile _on his son's face and. And he just. Minato chokes. He can't deal with this. He knows he's not supposed to hear this, but he does anyway. "I won't let anything happen to you, no matter what."

He's shocked. His son… and Kakashi? But… what about the pervert…? His eyes narrow in anger. _Kakashi _is _the pervert._ When he sees Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's cheek and rubs the cheek with his thumb, Minato loses it.

"You…!" he yells wordlessly in anger, stalking towards Kakashi. The two part and Kakashi backs away, his eyes wide. Obito, lying on the ground, watches them with amusement. "You…!"

"Now… Minato…" the man begins, but Minato's having none of it.

"My _son_…!" he's advancing towards the man now, his hands curled into fists. He's growling and his face hurts so much from all the frowning. The man continues to back away and he raises his hands again, like he had done before.

"Look, Minato…" Kakashi tries, but again, Minato doesn't care.

"My _Naru-chan…_!" Minato yells, and then Kakashi takes off running.

"I'm not sorry!"

"It could've been _ANYONE ELSE_!" Minato shrieks as he chases the man. "But it had to be my _NARU-CHAN_?! YOU CAN HAVE EVERYONE ELSE, JUST _NOT MY NARU-CHAN_!"

"Dad!" Naruto yells at him.

"Quiet Naruto!" he snaps, and finally, he gets a hold of Kakashi. They struggle for a bit, but in the end, Minato pins Kakashi to the ground in a choking hold. "I'm trying to get something _done _here!"

"Minato…"

He hears stifled laughter in the background – sounding vaguely like Obito's – but he ignores it. He's set on his task; he's avenging Naruto's virtue, like a good father should.

"Shut up, Kakashi," Minato snaps and then he punches Kakashi in the face. He steps off of Kakashi and watches the man slowly stand up. He scowls at the man. He can't… he can't actually do anything else to the man, because he knows Naruto loves him to bits. But. But he really, _really _wants to cut the man's balls off with a rusty kunai. He turns pleading eyes to Naruto. "Naruto…"

The boy's face is bright red. "Dad," he whines.

"Can I… can I at least mutilate him?" he asks, pouting.

"No," the boy says, folding his arms.

"Pleaaaase…?"

"Dad, no. We need him for the war."

After a beat of silence, Kakashi growls, "Oi!"

"Well, we do," Naruto sniffs.

"I'll mutilate him only a little bit," Minato promises, glaring down at Kakashi, who's still on the ground. "He'll still be useful."

"But he won't be useful straight away," Naruto reasons, and Minato hates that he's being logical. He hates logical things, especially _this _logical thing.

"Fine," Minato sighs. _But I'm going to make this a living hell for Kakashi_, he thinks to himself, cackling inwardly.

* * *

"_MINATO_!" Kakashi shrieks after he stands up from where he's been thrown. All around him are _things_, and Minato's satisfied. Even though _he _doesn't get to mutilate the man, the _things _have the distinct honour of doing it for him.

"Nothing's wrong, Kakashi! Live a little!" he yells back.

Cursing reaches his ears, making him smile.

* * *

"Run, Kakashi, run!" Minato yells gleefully, watching as the man dodges all of the things, sending him a glare every so often.

"Minato-sensei, we're in _battle_!" the man yells back incredulously.

"Run!" he cackles.

"_MINATO-SENSEI_!"

* * *

There is one thing Kakashi has learnt from this experience, and that is _never fall for your sensei's son_.

* * *

**Schematic: **_I'm sorry if this doesn't meet up to your expectations! __**EVERYTHING IS AS VAGUE AS POSSIBLE HERE, SORRY. **__Also, I like how no one even questions the fact Naruto called Minato "dad"- AND THEN EVERYONE JUST STEALS NARUTO'S DREAM LIKE: "SURE, I KNOW YOU WANTED TO BECOME HOKAGE SINCE FOREVER, BUT SHUT UP, I'M GOING TO BECOME HOKAGE". GAH!_


	7. Flustering the Scarecrow

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto, you scavengers! Shoo! _Shooooooooo_!

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or  
, if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing,  
give me a word (for example: doors)**)**

_My lovely, lovely reviews_! _It makes me feel so warm inside. I have six. Six_! _You don't realise how happy that makes me_!

**Schematic: **_I'm supposed to be writing other things, but it seems I'm better when I only know _some _of what's going on. Sigh._

**Apologies: **_I have no idea who the characters are in Icha Icha Paradise, so I just made them up. I know what it's _about_, but I don't know _who _it's about. So I made it up. Sue me._

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

* * *

**Schematic  
Prompt by: entrappedspaces (tumblr)  
****(**_To see the full prompt, scroll to the bottom_!**)  
Flustering the Scarecrow  
**_Kakashi and Naruto are sent back in time._

Kakashi yawns, arching his body upwards, his hands fisted at his sides. Naruto, who is lying beside him in bed, mutters unintelligibly and rolls over, only millimetres away from falling off the bed. A slight huff escapes Kakashi as he gets out of bed. He moves delicately around the room, toeing clothing and scrolls out of his way as he makes his way to the bathroom. After he's showered and dressed, he walks back out, a brush in his hand. Naruto who, up until this point, was asleep, bolts upwards in bed when a hairbrush is tossed at his head.

"Ow, fuck!" Naruto cries, clutching his head. He turns to glare over at Kakashi, who's standing to the side, his hands in his pants pockets. "What'd you do that for?!"

Kakashi smiles and shrugs pleasantly. Without his mask, it's a truly breathtaking view; he has a dimple indented in his right cheek and his nose is perfectly straight. His lips, while thin, are exactly how Naruto likes them – since they represent the elder man so well.

"You were taking too long to wake up," Kakashi explains, his smile turning impish.

Naruto grumbles and turns away from the deceptively attractive man and eyes the clock suspiciously. It's exactly seven in the morning. He turns around with blank eyes and fixes Kakashi with a stare. "It's too damn early," he says flatly.

"We~ll," Kakashi singsongs, pulling out his little orange book and flicking to his favourite page, "we _do _have a mission today."

"That was today?!" Naruto squeaks and rises from bed. He stumbles, his feet caught in the duvet. "Fuck!" he curses, scrambling out of his makeshift prison. He races around the room, trying to find suitable clothes, Kakashi slouching against the wall all the while.

The man lifts his eyes from his book and watches lecherously as his younger lover – clad in only a pair of tight-fitting briefs – bends over to pick up various items of clothing, his dexterous fingers linking occasionally through his hair. Kakashi openly leers at the sight; he remembers what those fingers had done last night and what those tantalizing hips had done. As soon as he notices Naruto twitch to look over his shoulder, he burries his nose into the book, pretending to read. The boy, sensing his attention elsewhere, heads off to the bathroom.

"We're also three hours late!" he calls and hears a curse emanating from the tiled room. He chuckles, flipping the page. It's fun to tease Naruto, once in a while; it doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's always to Kakashi's amusement. He hears the shower turn on, so he stuffs his book in his jounin vest's top pocket, quickly gets his mask, puts it on and then goes to the kitchen. He makes some ramen – and, honestly, they really need to get something _other _than ramen – and he waits. He sits and waits at the table, pulling his left leg onto the chair. He hums to himself merrily.

"Why didn't you wake me up sooner?!" Naruto yells, the sound bouncing off of the walls. Kakashi winces, feeling sorry for their next door neighbours; honestly, couldn't Naruto _keep it down_?

_How am I going to reply to this…ah. _"I woke up on the wrong side of the bed!" he calls back.

"Bullshit, you liar!" Naruto screeches, and the shower turns off. A few moments later, Naruto walks into the kitchen with only a towel on. "You have your side, I have mine; we _can't _wake up on each other's sides!"

"I'd like to wake up on _you_ instead," Kakashi leers, leaning forward.

The boy – man, he corrects himself, _he's twenty_ – huffs and walks back into the bedroom. "Pervert," the boy says, and it's loud enough for Kakashi to hear. He chuckles warmly, a smile plastered on his face. The man walks back out, wearing his usual clothing – black shinobi pants and sandals with a bright orange shirt – with his jounin vest slapped over it. "Are we ready?"

"Yes," Kakashi chirpily agrees and places the cup ramen into Naruto's hands. "This is for you," he says, stands and kisses Naruto on the mouth.

"Thanks," the younger man mutters, a slight blush to his cheeks. "Aren't you going to have something?"

Kakashi's been preparing the other man's meals for neigh on two years, yet he continues to blush every time he receives food from Kakashi. It's adorable, so he doesn't mention it; he doesn't want it to stop, after all. "You might want to use a fork or something," Kakashi says, pointing at the food, then adds sheepishly, "I forgot to get myself something. I'll get something later."

"If you're sure," Naruto says, eying him suspiciously. The man shrugs, puts the cup to his lips and then chugs it down. Kakashi sighs, but waits. When the other man's done, he throws the cup into the rubbish and pulls at Kakashi's hand. "Come on, let's go!"

"Yes, yes, Naru-chan," Kakashi replies. They link fingers and, as they walk towards the front door, he suddenly stops. Naruto stumbles at the sudden halt, using his other hand to balance himself. He turns his head to glare at Kakashi reproachfully.

"What?" Naruto snaps.

"Our packs," Kakashi sighs, dismayed.

Naruto shrugs. "I made them the day we received the mission, you know? They're just… right next to the door," and he points. There, sitting next to the door, are two bags and Kakashi feels slightly proud.

"I'm glad someone remembered," Kakashi grumbles.

They pick up their packs and leave their apartment (not even bothering to lock up; they lived in a jounin-only complex, after all – their apartment was safe). They let go of each other's hands as they get outside and head towards the gates with an unspoken challenge for a race. When they get to the gates, they get there at the exact same time and sulk; no one wins and no one loses.

Kotetsu, who's nearly half-asleep, perks up at their presence. "Oh, Kakashi, Naruto-kun. What are you guys doing out here so early?"

Izumo, who actually _is _asleep, is elbowed in the side. He opens his eyes blearily. "Wha…?" his eyes focus on the two. "Oh, hi. What're you doing up so early?"

Naruto stares at them bemused, but Kakashi just smiles at them. "Oh, you know. A mission. We'd like to leave," he then hands them their IDs. Once he gets them back, he nods at them, takes their IDs and leaves.

As they're walking away, Izumo calls out excitedly, "when are you guys getting back?"

Naruto turns around and waves goodbye at them. "In a few days!"

"Get back safely, okay?!" Kotetsu yells out and his voice sounds muffled. "Tsunade-sama will have our heads if you don't get back okay!"

Naruto turns to regard Kakashi, bemused. "I thought baa-chan would have _your _head?"

"Maa, apparently not," Kakashi replies.

They travel for a good while, neither of them in the mood to speak. Their path was constantly blocked by trees so they abandoned the path they chose to jump into the tree's branches, jumping from branch to branch to get to their destination.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Naruto asks from a few branches up ahead. Kakashi ducks, his head only slightly missing the lowered branch.

"You didn't read the scroll, Naruto?" Kakashi asks in reply, amused.

"That's what I have you for," Naruto replies and chuckles slightly, turning his head a fraction to send him a smile. "Also because I knew I would forget."

Kakashi clicks his tongue. "Naruto…"

"I know, I know!" Naruto laughs. "I know I'm supposed to be reading it because I'm supposed to be _responsible _and whatever, but honestly? It's easier when _you _read the missions; you're the team leader, after all."

"Ah, I guess you're right," Kakashi replies, and then they're both silent.

* * *

"Ah, Naruto, we're here," Kakashi says, stopping at an open clearing. On the other side of the clearing, however, is an old looking temple. Naruto sighs, standing next to Kakashi and looking over at the temple with curiosity.

"Why're we at a temple?" he asks, puzzled. His eyebrows are pulled together, a small frown on his face. His hands are placed firmly on his hips and Kakashi leers; that thing with the hips last night… "Kakashi?"

"Hm?" Kakashi asks, his eyes looking up from where they were staring. He stares into amused blue orbs and shrugs, looking over at the temple. "Ah, we're here to see an elderly man named Yuki. We'll head over there in the morning."

Naruto looks up, apparently just noticing the darkening of their surroundings. "Oh."

"Ah."

"Hm."

They unanimously decide, at the same time, to set up their tent for the night.

* * *

When Kakashi wakes up, it's to the shrill scream of Naruto. He twitches into alertness, grabs a kunai and gets to his knees. There, sitting right in front of Naruto's face, is an elderly man. Immediately, Kakashi pounces on the man and puts his kunai to the man's neck.

"Who are you?" he growls.

The elderly man, completely unfazed, just raises in eyebrow. "My name is Yuki Yamamoto."

"Prove it."

The man, looking slightly miffed, reaches slowly into his pants pocket and hands him an envelope. He then, calmly, raises both of his arms on either side, his fingers splayed on his hands. Kakashi, without moving his kunai, opens the envelope and flips open the page. His eyes scan the page and, once he's done with it, he moves his kunai away from the man's jugular.

"Are you okay now?" the elderly man asks, concerned.

"You crazy old man!" Naruto shrieks, pointing at him. "Why are you… why did you come in here?!"

Yuki shrugs delicately. "I just came to wake you up. I didn't realise I'd be threatened for it though," he glares at Kakashi. "I want my envelope – with the paper – back."

Kakashi sheepishly puts the paper back into the envelope, seals it and gives it back to the man. The man immediately folds the envelope and shoves it into his pants pocket again.

Kakashi clears his throat once he spies Naruto opening his mouth. He shoots a quick look at the younger man and mentally says _no_. "Ah, Yuki-san… would it be alright if you went outside? We need to get properly dressed and… my teammate here gets embarrassed of his body easily."

Naruto splutters while the elderly man nods in understanding. "The young ones are always the most embarrassed," he admits and leaves the tent, closing it on his way out.

Once the elderly man is quite a distance away, Naruto leans over to Kakashi and hisses at him. "Why did you have to say that? I'm not _embarrassed_ about my body."

Kakashi just shrugs. "I didn't want him to see you like that," at Naruto's blush he continues, "and I didn't want him to see _this_." He pulls down his mask, leans forward and captures Naruto's lips with his. He hums softly and wraps his arms around Naruto's waist, bringing him in closer. He doesn't deepen the kiss, neither does he do anything else. He leans back and watches as Naruto's face slowly deepens a dark, attractive red.

"St-stupid sensei," Naruto mutters under his breath. Obviously, Kakashi's not meant to hear it, but he does anyway.

Kakashi pulls his mask back up and leers down at him. "That sounds like a kink we can explore later."

At Naruto's spluttering, he laughs, disentangles himself from Naruto and exits the tent. He stands guard before the entrance, watching the elderly man, who is busily nosing his way around the campsite. Kakashi's amused beyond belief, watching the old man curiously going about his business, as if this was a normal occurrence. When the man finally looks up, he smiles a smile with all teeth.

"Ah, protecting your young maiden's virtue from an old man like me, eh?" the man chuckles.

_Protecting my young maiden's virtue, eh? Hm… another kink. We're on a roll, this morning. When we get back, I'll have to try to convince Naruto… _Kakashi nods, smiling at him, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Of course," he says, "but that's to be expected; I protect my young maiden's virtue from _everyone_."

"What about you?" the man asks, amused.

"I'm exempt," Kakashi replies proudly, standing a little straighter. "He's mine to take advantage of."

The man nods in understanding. "I understand," the man sighs wistfully. "My beautiful Saki-chan was only ever taken advantage of by me. Not that she didn't have any suitors, mind you; she had a lot. But my Saki-chan…" he sighs, and peers at Kakashi imploringly. "Protect your maiden at all costs."

Kakashi nods. "Ah." _Now would be a bad time to take out Icha Icha Tactics…_

* * *

"So, old man, what do you need us to do with the temple?" Naruto asks, peering up from his ramen cup.

Kakashi sighs and looks at the elderly man apologetically. "I'm sorry about that. He doesn't understand manners."

The older man, however, just flapped his hand and grinned. "It's alright. I know what it's like to be at that age. Ah…" he sighs, and then looks over at the temple, a small, genuine smile on his face. "I need you to get a scroll for me. It's located in the back wall."

"Why can't you do it?" Naruto asks curiously. _Naruto… why do all of your questions have to seem so rude?_

The elderly man shrugs, still staring at the temple. "Only shinobi can get past all the traps that are laid out. You have to have enough chakra, and the skills to get past them. I'm an old, civilian man," the man says, chuckling, "so I can't do any of that. This is where you come in."

"When do you want us to get started?" Kakashi asks. Quickly, while the man's distracted, he scoffs down some ramen and vegetables.

"When you're ready," the man replies.

* * *

When they step foot into the temple, it's very eerie; everything is swathed in darkness and the only light in the place is the light coming from the entrance. Kakashi and Naruto look at each other with raised eyebrows and turn to look at Yuki, who is busily thumbing the dust off of the old, worn door.

The man, noticing their attention, raises his eyebrow in question. "Yes?"

"Why are there no lights?" Naruto asks slowly. He deliberately looks around himself to get his point across, standing with his arms folded.

The elderly man shrugs. "I haven't bothered to, not since my beloved Saki-chan passed away." He then gave a wry quirk of the lips. "Well, that and there are a lot of kids that come here to check out the 'haunted temple'."

Naruto shivers beside him, his body tensing, while his face goes pale, and Kakashi belatedly realises Naruto's (irrational) fear of ghosts. He gently lays a hand on Naruto's shoulder, catches his eye and gives him a reassuring crinkling of his eyes. Immediately, the younger man calms down and smiles back at him shakily.

"Ah, you'll excuse me if we want to get this over and done with," Kakashi explains, smiling at the man.

The elderly man has the gall to _wink_ at him. "I won't tell anyone."

_Sly old man, _Kakashi grumbles inwardly. "So, where is the scroll located?"

The man points at the end of the room, a good ten feet away. At the end is a large stone door. "You have to go in there. The scroll is located… hm, in the second hallway to the right."

"Anything else we need to know?"

"Be careful of traps."

* * *

"I don't like this," Naruto whispers to him, his body shivering slightly. His whole body has turned unnaturally pale and has started to get clammy. _It's going to be okay Naruto; I'll be there. _They venture slowly into the corridor, a torch in Kakashi's hand the only source of light.

"Neither do I," Kakashi admits, keeping Naruto in his line of sight, "everything seems… _off_."

"Maybe the old man has laid a trap for us?" Naruto mutters and chuckles weakly. "It seems likely, what with how creepy he's being."

Kakashi shrugs. "We'll soon see, won't we?"

* * *

Their walking soon came to a stop when they reached a small archway. The two of them glanced at each other with raised eyebrows then slowly walked inside. Kakashi's jaw slackens a bit and, out of the corner of his eye, he can see Naruto do a double-take. Inside the room are three main lights, all turned on and, in the middle of the large, spacious room, stands a large statue of a woman. Her face is calm and in each of her hands was a scroll.

"That was… easy," Naruto says softly, looking around himself slowly as he walks towards the stone statue. "There were no traps… no other shinobi… really, why did that old man need _us_?"

Kakashi shrugs in response and they make their way towards the statue. When they're standing in front of the statue, a light beam shines on them, causing them both to startle. They turn around to see where it's coming from, but they don't see anything.

"That was… creepy," Naruto mutters. "So, how do we get the scrolls?"

"It can't be as simple as just _getting _the scrolls…" Kakashi says thoughtfully. His eyes move to stare up at the scrolls. "There could be a pressure – Naruto!" His eyes widen as Naruto scales the statue to get to the scrolls. "You can get yourself _killed _up there!"

"It's fine, Kakashi!" Naruto yells back. He then grabs a scroll and, as soon as he does so, lights flicker on and shine brightly on them. Kakashi raises his hand and puts it over his eye for shade, and he notices a small tornado brewing.

"_Why is there a tornado in here_?!" he yells and Naruto looks down at him with confusion, until his eyes take in the tornado that's starting to form.

"Kakashi!"

Naruto tackles Kakashi to the ground and everything gets bright; so bright, it hurts his eyes and he can see nothing – everything is _white_. Naruto clutches desperately at him, but he can't actually _see _it.

* * *

**Naruto, **Kurama grumbles in the back of his head and Naruto twitches. The beast, for nearly a full day, hadn't bothered to talk to him. He held Kakashi in his arms. **That tornado isn't **_**just **_**a tornado. I've felt this feeling before. It's attempting to turn back time.**

_Turn back time?! _Naruto shrieks in his head and he can _feel _Kurama wincing at his volume. _How is that even possible?!_

**Oi, brat, lower your voice, **Kurama grumbles. **Yes, **he continues, tilting his head, **time travel **_**is **_**possible – only for this statue, of course. It's trying to bring you **_**permanently **_**back in time. I can… I can make it so you're only **_**temporarily **_**there though.**

_What about Kakashi?_

**Grab a hold of the brat. He'll be coming with you, too. But before that… no one must know you're from **_**here**_**. I'll be using all of my strength to give you a temporary stay, so don't fuck this up.**

_You have so little faith in me. I won't fuck this up, _Naruto whines.

**Of course not, **Kurama snaps. **That isn't how you got into this mess, after all, is it? **He snorts derisively. **Just don't let go of Kakashi.**

* * *

When Kakashi opens his eyes, it's to Naruto's face close to his. He startles, but smiles up at him in confusion, tilting his head. "What happened?"

"It was a time tornado," Naruto replies, and Kakashi just stares at him flatly.

"A time tornado."

"Yes."

"A _time _tornado."

"Yes," Naruto repeated, amused. "Kurama says we're back in time now, currently, and that we mustn't let anyone know that we're from the future. But…"

"But there is a younger me here, and I look exactly like him," Kakashi groans. He then pulls Naruto on top of him and presses his face into his neck. "How long are we going to be here?"

"A… few months?" Kakashi asks incredulously.

The younger man shrugs against him. "It could've been permanently, you know."

* * *

When they get to the Konoha gates, they're met with suspicion by both of the gate guards. One of them raises an eyebrow at Kakashi, while the other continues to stare suspiciously at them both.

"Wow, you look exactly like an older version of some little shit I know," the black-haired one says, nodding once. "It's uncanny…"

"Who cares?" the other snaps. "They can't come in unless they have the proper ID."

Naruto twitches slightly – not enough to be noticed if someone isn't looking for it (which Kakashi most certainly _is_) – and takes out two IDs. One is labelled Nori Hashimoto and the other, with Kakashi's face (and mask) is labelled Kenji Kimura. The two gatemen look at the IDs suspiciously.

"We've never seen you two before," the black-haired man says slowly.

"Ahh," Naruto replies, chuckling and rubbing the back of the neck – a completely nervous reaction Kakashi _knows _Naruto does whenever he's nervous. But, hopefully for their sakes, it looks as if he's _embarrassed_ instead of _nervous_. "We just came back from a long mission… it's been a few years, honestly. You two look new, for instance; what happened to the other guys?"

One – with blue hair – barks out a laugh. "They retired."

"I think one died," the black-haired one says thoughtfully and then gives them back their IDs. "You should go and get your mission reports in before sundown."

Kakashi nods, puts his arm around Naruto's shoulders and pulls him towards the Hokage Tower. "Thanks," he says over his shoulder. Once they're out of sight and hearing distance, he leans down to Naruto's ear, his arm still relaxed over the younger man's shoulders. "How are we going to do this? How are we going to… _explain _this?"

"We've got something no one else has except for my mother," Naruto whispers out of the corner of his mouth as they walk.

"Oh, please enlighten me," Kakashi hisses. "We're going to our deaths, so I might as well hear you out before we both die and you regret not telling me."

Naruto huffs. "I have Kurama, remember? You can't duplicate him."

_Oh, I'm such an idiot_, Kakashi thinks to himself. Why is _he _the one that's freaking out? Why couldn't it be Naruto? _Kakashi _was usually the level-headed one! What happened to his cute little student?! Kakashi was supposed to be all-knowing! And awe-inspiring! But _no_, _Naruto _has to be the damn all-knowing, awe-inspiring and level-headed one today!

"Oh," he mutters and leans away from Naruto. He catches a couple of odd looks thrown their way, but that's probably because he either looks like an older Kakashi (which he _was_) or because had had his arm over Naruto's shoulder (who happened to have a striking resemblance to Minato). _Fuck._

* * *

Sarutobi sits before them with his hands clasped firmly on the desk before him, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Naruto is sitting next to Kakashi, his hand hovering over Kakashi's hand nervously. Exasperated with Naruto's hesitation, he grabs the hand and laces their fingers together and throws a quick grin at him. The younger male flushes in response and turns to give his full attention to the Third Hokage, who has watched the whole exchange with a blank face.

"So you're saying you're from the future," Sarutobi says flatly.

"Yes," Kakashi replies, since he's sure Naruto isn't in the right state of mind to do so – after all, seeing someone back from the dead wouldn't put Kakashi in the right state of mind either. _And I'll be seeing a lot of dead people today… especially Minato, Obito and Rin. _He inwardly shudders. _Fuck._ He completely forgets about his asshole younger self, but hey. He doesn't have to deal with him.

"Do you have any proof?"

"Yes," Naruto says this time, and at Sarutobi's raised eyebrow, Naruto pushes his shirt up slightly past his navel and pushes some chakra into the seal that's there. It appears and, immediately, the other man's eyebrow shoots up to join the first. "I'm the jinchuuriki of the nine-tailed fox."

"But Kushina…" Sarutobi whispers, eying the seal in fascination.

"Is my mother and passed it on to me," Naruto says sadly and then lets go of the shirt so it falls over his stomach. "Kurama," at the elderly man's confusion, he elaborates, "the nine-tailed fox," the man nods in response, and his face goes carefully blank. "Anyway, Kurama says we'll be here for a couple of months. He's used his demon chakra to give us working IDs, and Kakashi and I were thinking of… staying in the village until we have to go."

"So no missions," Sarutobi says slowly, pursing his lips.

"Essentially, yes," Kakashi replies, taking over for Naruto. "We told the guards at the entrance that we just came back from a mission that lasted us a couple of years. We can use the couple of months as… vacation, I guess you could say."

Sarutobi nods in acceptance. "It could work… but, Kakashi, you look… exceptionally like the younger Kakashi. It could get a bit suspicious."

Kakashi shrugs in response. "If anyone asks, I have a horribly disfigured face."

* * *

Naruto sighs next to him when they're outside again and Kakashi immediately brings him to his body and hugs him tightly. He rests his chin on top of Naruto's head and hums softly.

"It's going to be okay," Kakashi says and his younger lover instantly brightens and pushes away from him. There's a huge grin spreading across his face, and Kakashi is immediately suspicious.

"I want to see the younger Kakashi!"

"No," Kakashi replies, shaking his head. _I don't want Naruto to be subjected to a younger me. _

"Yes," Naruto says, nodding his head. "I want to go see!"

Kakashi sighs heavily, slumping slightly. "Fine, fine," he grumbles. "Just remember our aliases, okay?"

"_Yes_!" Naruto crows, grabs his hand and heads to team seven's training ground.

_Something bad's going to happen, I can feel it_, Kakashi moans inwardly. _Naruto… don't fuck it up._

* * *

When they get to the training ground, they're met with surprised, wide eyes and Kakashi is given furtive, curious glances. Minato, who had been overseeing the children's training, looks over at them curiously when he notices his students preoccupied with them. He gives them a grin.

"Hi! What brings you here?" he asks, walking calmly over to them, his three students following him like ducklings.

Kakashi's amused at the comparison and hides a chuckle behind his hand and avoids the looks he's being given from the students. "Maa… my friend here," he points at Naruto, "was curious about all of the teams. You're the first on our list today. He just wanted to get to know you and your students a little bit."

Minato quirks and eyebrow at him. "I haven't seen you around."

"We just got back from a mission!" Naruto replies excitedly, jumping up a bit. Kakashi studiously ignores his younger counterpart muttering "idiot" under his breath and only sends a glare at him in response. _Even if you're me, you're not going to insult Naruto, you little shit. _"It went for so long! I'm surprised Konoha's still standing!"

Kakashi rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Sorry about him… he's a little… excitable."

"Oi, you like me that way, you big softie!" Naruto replies, laughing at him. He turns to Minato and thrusts his hand forward for a handshake. "Hashimoto Nori, at your service!"

Minato chuckles, takes Naruto's hand in his and gives it a shake. "Namikaze Minato at yours."

Kakashi salutes them all lazily and drawls out, "Kimura Kenji."

"So, who're the brats?" Naruto asks, smiling brightly at them. He receives a scowl from the younger Kakashi, a pout from Obito and a shy glance from Rin. "They're all so cuuute!"

Minato shakes his head. "Sure, they look that way… but they're hellions."

"Oi!" Obito protests, puffing out his chest. "Kakashi's the only hellion amongst us!"

"Obito," Rin says in a warning tone.

"Sorry Rin," Obito apologises sheepishly. She rolls her eyes in response.

"You don't say it to _me_."

Naruto stares at them openly with widened eyes and turns to look at Kakashi with the same expression on his face. Kakashi watches Naruto gaping for a moment in amusement and pats his shoulder. "There there, Nori-chan."

Naruto splutters, flushing. "Oi! Don't call me 'chan'! That's so…" he shudders. "Ugh, gross. Anyway… she's like a nicer Sakura," he says, pointing at Rin, "Obito's a more quiet me," he points at Obito and then he pauses, pointing at the younger Kakashi, "and he's like a younger… Sasuke. That glare. Wow. The resemblance is uncanny."

Kakashi shot a glare at Naruto. "Nori…"

"What?" the younger man asks innocently. "It's true. Look at that glare," he then moves to kneel closer to the younger Kakashi, who is confused, but glaring at him. "It's so adorable when it's just a twelve year old."

Obito clears his throat. "Thirteen year old."

Naruto shrugs in response. "Whatever. It's still cute," he leans forward a bit more, making the younger Kakashi take a step back. "He looks so innocent and corruptible…"

"Nori," Kakashi snaps, hauls Naruto up by the arm and stalks away, his grip on Naruto's arm painful. He sends an apologetic look at Minato and the students and continues to stalk away.

"Kakashi," Naruto whines. "He… he needs…"

_Forget subjecting Naruto to a younger me. I can't subject a younger me to _Naruto_._"He doesn't need anything," Kakashi replies flatly. He's levelled with a watery stare.

"But Kakashi… he… I…" and then, much to Kakashi's horror, the younger man stops the waterworks and starts to smile mischievously. _Oh what the hell is the boy up to now? _"When did you start to read the Icha Icha series?"

"When I was fif –" he stops, noticing the look he's getting. He groans, shaking his head. "No. I know what you're thinking. _No_."

"What am I thinking?" Naruto asks innocently and Kakashi isn't fooled for a second.

"No. You're not… you're not going to give him the book."

Naruto nods seriously. "Of course not," and it's so genuine that Kakashi gives a small sigh of relief. At least he won't corrupt his younger self.

* * *

Once Kakashi is asleep, Naruto quickly and silently leaves their hotel room. He holds the little orange book closely to his chest and makes a run for the younger Kakashi's house. It's only seven at night, but Kakashi had gone to bed earlier because of the longe than usual day.

**This is going to blow up in your face, brat, **Kurama grumbles from the recesses of his mind and he startles, barely avoiding the face-plant he would've given the roof he's running across. **Kakashi's going to have your head when he realises what you've done to his younger counterpart.**

_It is not going to blow up in my face, _Naruto sniffs. _And by the time Kakashi wakes up, I'll be there, lying next to him like I usually am._

The beast shudders in revulsion. **Ugh. Spare the details.**

Naruto grins as he comes into view of the younger Kakashi's house. He politely knocks on the door and, a couple of minutes later, Kakashi opens the door. Upon seeing him, however, the boy glares at him suspiciously.

"What do you want?" he snaps.

"Ah, nothing. My friend was concerned about you and told me I should come see you about something important," Naruto says, chuckling slightly.

**So much lies.**

_Shut up, fox. _

**Ooo, going to call me fox from now on? Fine, I see how you're going to play it.**

The boy simply raises an eyebrow. "Why isn't _he _here then?" And under his breath he mutters, "why did it have to be the _idiot_?"

Naruto's eyebrow twitches. "I heard that, you brat," he growls. "And Kenji isn't here because he's _sleeping_. We came back from a mission, after all."

The boy snorts. "It couldn't have been _that _bad. He's just weak."

_You're talking about your older self, so that means _you're _an idiot too. _Naruto grins in response. "Ah, he's not weak. He just doesn't have my…" he leers, "_stamina_."

The boy shoots him a horrified look, his eyes widening. "I…"

"Anyway," Naruto says, pushing past the smaller Kakashi and walking inside, "I came here to read to you about important things, not about how much stamina I have." He sits down on the lounge and waits for the boy to sit down. Slowly, the boy closes the door and comes to sit gingerly across from him, his hands in his lap and his back straight._ How adorable._ Clearing his throat, Naruto opens up to page 155, where he _knows _everything is interesting – hell, it's Kakashi's favourite page in the first book. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," the boy replies.

**Oh, he doesn't know what he's in for, **Kurama leers and Naruto's slight smile falls off his face.

_Did you just…?_

**Shut up, **the fox snaps. **It's the best page in the **_**series**_**. Now hurry up and read it. **

Naruto clears his throat and starts halfway down the page. "Izumi was a beautiful woman, with long curly black hair and sea-foam eyes that were dilated with lust. Yuuma couldn't hold his moan in as he eyed the woman spread out on his bed."

"Wh… what…" the boy splutters, the place above his mask turning a dark shade of pink. "What are you…?"

"Shh!" Naruto scolds, glaring at the boy. "Listen closely!"

The boy vigorously nods, so Naruto continues.

""_Yuuma," Izumi purred out, looking up at him through her lashes, "you're so… slow." Her right hand was fiddling with her skirt. Yuuma, once he got control of his brain, stumbled over towards her and pulled down her skirt, along with her underwear. He hesitated, wondering if she wanted this as much as him. Her knee hooked around his waist and pulled him in close, while she tugged at his earlobe. _

Okay, yes, she wants me_, Yuuma thought, and pulled down his pants…"_

"NORI!" the younger Kakashi shrieks, and Naruto laughs, closes his book and hightails it out of there. A couple of kunai whizz past his head as he runs.

"Sorry brat!" he yells and turns his head to get a good look at the boy's face. The boy's face is turning a bright red and Naruto cackles.

* * *

"Naruto…" Kakashi drawls once Naruto is inside of the bedroom. He freezes, turning around to eye Kakashi warily. "What were you doing?"

"Nothin'!" Naruto squeaks and hides an orange book – a _familiar _orange book – behind his back.

Kakashi's eyebrows narrow. "What are you doing with my book?" he asks suspiciously.

"Light reading!" is Naruto's response.

_Liar_, Kakashi thinks, sighing. "You gave the book to the younger me, didn't you?"

The younger man shakes his head. "No."

"… don't tell me you _read_ it to me?" At Naruto's hesitance, he groans and puts an arm over his eyes. "You did, didn't you?"

"I couldn't help it!" Naruto protests and Kakashi can practically _see _the man waving his arms about. "He needed to be corrupted!"

Kakashi's arm is taken away from his eyes by Naruto, and the younger man leans up and kisses him on the cheek. He glares in response. "I'm going to have nightmares about what you did to me, aren't I?"

Naruto chuckles and doesn't respond.

* * *

When Naruto next sees the younger Kakashi, Kakashi is on his heels, watching their interaction. The boy, upon seeing Naruto, blushes a deep red and averts his eyes. Naruto, on the other hand, grins.

"My hands are freezing!" he says, and then grabs hold of the younger Kakashi's hands in his. Kakashi's hands clench at his sides. _Why did my younger self have to get all of the attention? _"Thanks for warming up my hands!"

Kakashi descends upon them, rips Naruto's hands away from his younger counterpart's, and stalks away with Naruto's hand in his.

"What are you doing?!" he snaps.

"I want to fluster you!" they grind to a halt when Kakashi stops and whirls around, his eyes wide.

"Fluster?!"

"Well, I can't fluster you most of the time," Naruto replies, pouting, "so I thought I'd fluster your younger self!"

Kakashi makes a noise in the back of his throat. "You're serious," he chokes.

Naruto grins brightly and nods. "Yes! I have a lot to make up for, you know?!"

_Kami help my young soul, _Kakashi sighs, praying inwardly.

* * *

When they see the younger Kakashi next, the boy is surrounded by his team. Naruto immediately bounces over to them with a grin in place, while Kakashi – the older one – follows at a more sedate pace. He grumbles inwardly when he sees his younger self blush and react to Naruto's presence. _Why did I have to be an anti-social little shit? We could've avoided all of this if I was as suave when I was younger as I am now!_

Kakashi's still grumbling to himself half an hour later, after Naruto had decided to join in on the "fun". He's sitting next to his sensei, who is watching them all in amusement. He turns slightly to regard Minato.

"Minato, tomorrow, would it be okay if you and your team went… somewhere else?" he asks hesitantly. Minato cocks his head.

"Ah? Why?"

"My… _friend_ seems to be set on embarrassing my poor little lookalike," he sighs, watching Naruto brush his fingers over his younger self's shoulders and arms.

"Nah," Minato chuckles and shakes his head. "I think it's good for Kakashi. He needs to lighten up, you know?"

_I know all too well, _Kakashi grumbles inwardly and then he glances up when he hears Naruto sigh loudly.

"It's so hot!" the man whines, and Kakashi's eyes widen. _What do you think you're doing? Don't you – _His thoughts are interrupted when Naruto takes off his jounin vest and shirt, and throws them to the side. Kakashi hangs his head in defeat. _Why did you have to do that?_

He hears a chuckle from beside him and turns mournful eyes on his old sensei. "What's so funny?" he asks miserably.

"You… you should see their reactions!" he howls, slapping his knee. "They're…!"

He turns and looks at the three students. His younger self is blushing heavily and averting his eyes, Obito is looking at Naruto with awe and Rin's eyes are open wide, with a dark red blush on her cheeks. He looks back to Minato and sighs.

"He's going to have a fan club now," he mourns pitifully. "It means more people to beat off with a stick…"

Minato raises an eyebrow. "Why so concerned? Isn't your friend allowed to –?"

"No," Kakashi snarls, stands and stalks off.

* * *

Kakashi walks behind Naruto, who has the younger Kakashi on his shoulders. They both laugh at something Naruto has said, and he scowls. His younger counterpart is getting more attention than _he _is getting, and it's incredibly annoying and frustrating. They were supposed to be _lying low _and when the hell was Team 7 going out on a mission?! It'd been _weeks_ since they arrived, and they had only done a couple of D-ranks!

"Kenji, are you alright back there?" Naruto asks in concern.

Kakashi grumbles wordlessly under his breath, and calls back, "Yes! I'm fine!" _I'm just jealous of my younger self, is all._

Obito and Rin flanked the younger man, and Minato was scouting out front. Kakashi pouts; Naruto and he were supposed to just go by _themselves _to a restaurant, but _nooo_, Naruto had to invite Team 7. Sure, it was nice seeing Minato-sensei again, but he'd already _lived_ through that, and had come to terms with Minato-sensei's death. Even _Naruto _had gotten over his father's death – which why they were slightly ignoring him right now.

_But Naruto's ignoring me too, _Kakashi grumbles inwardly and crosses his arms. He slouches and, since no one is paying attention to him, he takes out Icha Icha (the first one – because who knows what would happen if he lost the _future _one?) and flips to page 155. He reads, trying to ignore everything else.

"Pervert!" someone screeches and Kakashi's alarmed enough to raise his head and stare at the accusatory looks he's getting from Team 7. He raises his hands.

"Hey now, I'm not pervert –"

"Liar," the younger Kakashi says when Naruto turns around to see what's going on. "You made Nori-san read that to me. It's perverted."

Kakashi chokes. _Naruto used _me _as an excuse?! That… That…!_

"Ah, it's not that bad," Naruto replies, grinning up at the younger Kakashi. "It's actually about love between a man and a woman – I just happened to read the wrong page the other night."

"Oh," young Kakashi hums. Rin looks confused, but there's a dawning realisation on her face and, instead of glaring at Kakashi for being a pervert (like he's used to) he's _smiled _at.

… _only Naruto can convince kids that being a pervert is okay._

* * *

When they get to the restaurant, Kakashi immediately ceases the chair next to Naruto and puts his arm around the younger man's waist casually. He avoids everyone at the table (excluding Naruto) as he does so. _It completely natural_, Kakashi argues to himself, _because _I'm _the boyfriend. Not anyone else. Me? I wasn't jealous at all before of my younger self. Nope._

When Naruto's handed the menu, he asks, "You know what's on the menu?" and, before Kakashi or anyone else can get a word in edgewise, Naruto leans forward and stares at the younger Kakashi. "Me 'n' you," he purrs.

Kakashi chokes and the younger Kakashi instantly blushes and looks down at his plate. Obito stares at them before he bursts into laughter and looks away, trying to hide his laughter behind a fist that he's trying to bite. Rin is horrified and Minato… Minato just shakes his head and mutters to himself under his breath. _And no one even mentions it, as if it's a normal occurrence, _Kakashi thinks, pouting inwardly.

Naruto leans back into Kakashi and puts his hand on Kakashi's thigh. He kneads the thigh beneath his fingers, and Kakashi has to try to ignore this the whole time they're at the restaurant.

_I can't snap, I can't snap, I can't snap… _Kakashi thinks to himself, over and over.

* * *

It's the following week when everyone in Team 7 – with Naruto and Kakashi included – is taken aback. The younger Kakashi, after vigorous training, walks straight up to Naruto and, staring at Naruto, says a couple of words that completely shocks everyone.

"You're like a candy bar," he says slowly, "half sweet and half nuts."

Naruto stares at the boy dumbfounded, whilst Team 7 gapes.

_Oh Kami, _Kakashi thinks, fighting the urge to hit his forehead, _that is the worst pick-up line I've heard. Why did you have to embarrass yourself, younger self?_

"I didn't know you had it in you!" Obito crows and slaps the younger Kakashi's back encouragingly. "That was gold! You're an awesome anti-social bastard!"

_I'm never going to live this down, _Kakashi moans inwardly, staring at Naruto who had a bright smile on his face. _He has ammunition. _He watches at his younger self starts to blush horribly, only now catching up on what he's just said.

"That's so sweet," Naruto coos and hugs the boy.

Kakashi growls and turns away from the sight. _I'm losing him to myself. Great._

* * *

A month later, Kakashi sighs, leaning against the table, eying the food in front of him with trepidation. On the plate was broiled saury and salt, and he knew there was something wrong with it instantly; Naruto doesn't give him this without a _reason_. It's his favourite dish, after all. He hesitantly pokes the fish with a chopstick, wondering if there was some sort of sleeping gas in there that will hit him as soon as he starts to inhale it.

"Why aren't you eating it?" Naruto asks suspiciously, starling him. Naruto takes up the chair across from him and leans against the table, watching him curiously. "There's nothing wrong with it, you know?"

"I know… I think," Kakashi says, slowly, "but… what's the occasion?"

Naruto grins at him. "We leave tomorrow!"

_We leave tomorrow? _Kakashi thinks and he brightens considerably at the news. _No more younger self's stealing my time with Naruto! No more sharing! No more embarrassing pick-up lines! Yes!_

* * *

Naruto clears his throat in front of Team 7. "I have an announcement to make." They stare at him encouragingly, which makes it painfully difficult for him to continue. "We… we're leaving."

"On a mission?" Rin asks.

"Yes," Naruto says, swallowing. "And… and it's highly unlikely we'll come back alive."

Minato shakes his head, while Obito calls out denials. "No, we can ask Hokage-sama to get the ANBU to take the mission for you…"

Naruto looks at Kakashi helplessly and he swallows, stepping forward and taking Naruto's hand in his. He watches as his younger self narrows his eyebrows. _Yeah… sorry about that, younger self. _"We volunteered for this mission. We're prepared to give our lives for this mission. It's important."

Obito shakes his head, and Kakashi can spy a couple of tears slipping out of the boy's eyes. "No," the boy says stubbornly and throws himself at Naruto. "Anyone else can go."

Naruto chuckles weakly and kneels down to hug Obito. "Sorry. We have to go."

At this admission, Rin and Kakashi run at Naruto and hug him. A pang of jealousy hits Kakashi, and he doesn't know why he's jealous this time; it's not because Naruto is giving hugs, but it's because he's not the one being hugged by the team. Sure, he had been aloof the whole time they had been there, but not even a hug?

Minato walks over and claps him on the shoulder. "Thanks for looking after Kakashi for me."

"What…"

Minato shakes his head, smiling. "Yeah, I noticed you didn't want anything to happen to Kakashi. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

* * *

**So, are you ready, brat? **

_Yes._

In the next moment, Kakashi and Naruto disappear from outside of Konoha's gates.

* * *

Kakashi and Naruto sit in their apartment and Naruto looks up with a sly smile. "So I'm sweet and nutty, eh?"

Kakashi blushes. "Shut up."

* * *

**Prompt by entrappedspaces: **Naruto (~20 yrs old) and Kakashi (~34 yrs old) are in an established relationship and somehow end up in the past of the early days of Team 7. Older!Naruto tries to fluster Younger!Kakashi by constantly flirting with him and making bold passes. Team 7 reacts and hijinks ensue.

**Schematic: **_Hopefully she or he does not freak out over my use of their username. If they ask me to take down their username, that's fine with me; I should've asked first. On a side note: I had so much fun writing this_!

**Kitsu-Dono: **_Yours will be up next after this one, so don't fret; I'm currently working on it as I speak._

**Schematic: **_Why did it take so long to write this? Because I don't know how to flirt, do a "bold pass" or fluster someone. I've never seen it done before either, so I had to do a little research first. I looked up some pick up lines and they were too funny to pass up. I'm sorry. (Not really sorry.) _**I REGRET NOTHING!**


	8. Welcome Home

**Disclaimer: **-turns around to look at empty space- What. Where'd all my things go? –gasps- THEY THOUGHT I OWNED _NARUTO_! Why'd they have to take my _things_? I _liked _my things! I don't _own _Naruto, the bastards!

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or,  
if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing,  
give me a word (for example: dog)**)**

**IMPORTANT: **If there is more than _one _prompt at a time, they will go in order of who asked first. **Just to let you know. **For example, right now I have to do two (this one and another one) but this one was asked _first_. So be patient if yours isn't put up straight away – I'm working on it, just not at the moment.

**THE PROMPT ORDER IS LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!**

**Schematic: **_Thank you to _**DREAMER1084** _for pointing out that _**Junko **_is the heroine to the _**Icha Icha series**_! I tried to find that information by myself, but I never came across it – so thank you for pointing out my mistake! _

_My disclaimers amuse me._

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

**WARNING: **AU! _The Real World_! Yes, yes, the real world. Scary, yes? But, this idea wouldn't have worked otherwise, _sorry_!

* * *

**Schematic  
Prompt by: Kitsu-Dono  
**_Maid!Naruto; cute pink maid outfit; I bet Kakashi would like that__  
_**Welcome Home  
**_Gai's devious and Kakashi's a little bit suspicious_

Kakashi leans against the railing heavily, his eyes taking in the stunning view from his veranda; his apartment is located on the sixth floor of the building. It's a beautiful view of a few smattering of houses here and there, a small lake and other interesting things – except, however, for _one_ that makes him cringe. He can _see_ Gai's house from here, and that's not a very pretty sight. Especially when he happens to look over at the wrong time. He's really, _really_ not a fan of seeing Gai naked.

Yeah, Kakashi's apartment gives him a beautiful view nearly all the time, but at the _wrong _time, Kakashi can see into Gai's apartment. It's… let's just say he doesn't want anyone _else _to suffer the way he does.

He hears a knock on his door and he sighs, scrubbing his face tiredly. It's four in the afternoon and it's too damn _late _to deal with anyone today. He pushes off of the railing and slouches, walking leisurely towards the front door. He has time – an _ungodly _amount of time – so he'll just…take his time getting to the door. It can't be that important, right? When he gets to the door, he wonders what he should do; should he open it straight away or spy first? He mulls it over for a moment and another knock interrupts his thoughts. He sighs. Spy first. He flips the hatch over his peephole (and he feels more of a pervert whenever he calls it that) and leans in to spy. There, standing in front of the door, is Maito Gai in all of his hideous glory. He's wearing what he usually does and Kakashi shudders.

He knows _uncomfortably _well how _that_ gets on in the mornings. This is why he avoids going on his veranda in the mornings.

He gathers his resolve, closes the hatch and opens the door. His self-proclaimed rival gives him his signature 'Good-Guy Pose' (Kakashi shudders inwardly of how he _got _that name) and gives him a thumbs up.

"Hello, Kakashi!" he bellows and Kakashi winces. His poor, _poor _neighbours. "I have come here to give you an offer!"

Kakashi knows he'll regret this – he _really does_ – but he has to ask. He really, _really _has to ask because he's curious and he's an idiot. He should be suspicious of Gai's wide grin, but he's not. He's used to his friend's… cheerfulness. Grinning isn't the _worst _thing Gai can do; though he _does _get a headache looking at those shiny teeth too long.

"What kind of offer?" he asks. He doesn't bother inviting his friend in. Gai will leave once he issues his offer. It's just the way of things. That's how this friendship _works_ – and that's how they both like it.

The man takes out a slip of paper out of his orange leg warmers and hands it over to Kakashi, who takes it reluctantly. He doesn't want to touch the piece of paper – because who knows how much _sweat _is in that? He opens the piece of paper and promptly chokes on air.

It's a card. Not just any card, no. It's a _stripper's _card. He doesn't even want to know how his friend even got a hold of the card – he does _not_. But.

"Your house is unyouthfully unclean, Kakashi!" the man yells at him and he briefly entertains the thought of putting his hand over the man's mouth to shut him up. But he discards the idea, because he doesn't want his hand _anywhere near _Gai's mouth. _Ever. _

"What does this card have to do with being unclean?" Kakashi asks, because Gai can't really be that idiotic, can he?

"It is a card for cleaning," Gai tells him with a pitying look, as if Kakashi is retarded. "You call the number on the card and ask for a cleaning maid."

Kakashi stares at his friend flatly and shuts the door in his face. _Yes_, Kakashi thinks, _he really is that idiotic. _He walks away from his front door and places the card in the bin. He never wants to see that piece of paper again.

* * *

"There's something going on here," Kakashi mutters to himself suspiciously as he opens the door to his apartment after work. For one, he can literally _smell _something going on. When he's inside, he looks around the living space suspiciously - it's clean (which it usually always _isn't_) and there's... his favourite dish on the table. He knows because he can see and smell it. It's suspicious as all hell and Kakashi's determined to find out _why_. The only person that owns his keys is himself, Gai and the landlord. So he's suspicious about who's been in his house.

He closes the door quietly behind him - he doesn't want to alert whoever's here (because they might still be here) - and he stalks towards the kitchen space, where some miso soup with eggplant in a bowl is sitting innocently on the table. And by innocently, Kakashi really means _suspiciously_, because he knows how bad Gai is at cooking. He wouldn't normally touch that bowl with a ten-foot pole, but now, he doesn't even want to be in its very presence.

Kakashi dreads actually touching the miso soup in case it's some sort of trap that summons Gai here. He's had a thankfully _Gai-free _day today and he wants it kept that way. So he resolutely looks the other way, and stalks out of his apartment again. Because _nope_. He does _not_ want to deal with Gai today.

* * *

When Kakashi opens the door to his apartment, he's met with a very, very surreal scene. He can still smell the miso soup (so whoever it was probably didn't hear him come in) and there's a person in a pink maid's dress cleaning his hallway. He edges slowly into the apartment and shuts the door quietly behind him. Why is there a stripper in his house? Why is there a _person _in his house? Who even gave the person the _keys _to his _house_?

And then he remembers and groans. _Gai._

The person obviously hears his distress and looks up from what they're doing and. And Kakashi. Kakashi has no idea what to think or do because. Because. _That's actually pretty cute_, he thinks, dazedly. The person – and it's a _male _person – has blonde hair and whisker marks on his cheeks. He's in a fluffy pink maid dress, that barely covers his thighs. He's wearing stockings and black heels, and he doesn't. He chokes, his face flushing.

"Did Gai let you in?" he croaks.

The boy – man (he doesn't know, his face looks uncomfortably _young_) – tilts his head curiously. "Who?"

"The… the guy who let you in…?"

His face brightens. "Oh, yeah!" he grins. "Bushy Eyebrow Sensei!"

_Sensei? _Kakashi thinks, puzzled. _Gai's a sensei… oh. Oh. It's a… kink in this line of work to be called sensei, isn't it? _"Oh," he says, and then swallows. "Why are you here? Why aren't you… why aren't you servicing Gai?"

The boy – man- _whatever he is_ – shrugs casually. "He told me to clean your house. So I'm doing that for him. He was right about your apartment being a _mess_. I've been cleaning all day!"

Kakashi stares suspiciously at the – the _maid_. Kami, why is there a _maid stripper _in his _apartment? _"What about the miso soup? Don't tell me Gai made it."

The blonde shakes his head. "Nah, I did," he says and shyly looks down, playing with the folds of his dress. "I thought I'd give you your favourite dish, because that's what we're supposed to do, right? Maids are supposed to… do things for their Masters."

Kakashi stares flatly at the maid and right and then and there, he makes up his mind. He grabs the boy by his arm, opens the front door and pushes him outside. He closes the door quickly, locks it and leans against the door, his heart racing. He feels the maid pounding on his front door.

"Oi! I haven't finished with my work yet!" the maid screeches.

"Yes you have!" he calls back.

_I don't need a stripper in my apartment_! Kakashi thinks, horrified. _I need to talk to Gai about personal boundaries. Just because Gai's into maids… a cute maid… doesn't mean I am_!

He completely ignores the pounding of his front door as he leaves for his bedroom. He also ignores his last thought, because he doesn't have time for that.

* * *

Kakashi finds Gai in his apartment lifting weights and, in the corner of the room, stands the same blonde in the maid's outfit. Kakashi freezes and carefully walks backwards. _I didn't see that_, Kakashi thinks hysterically, _I really didn't. Nope. Not at all._

"Ah, my eternal rival!" Gai calls and Kakashi freezes again. He slumps. "Come over here and meet my young student!"

Kakashi shakes his head. "No, thanks, I've already met him."

"Oh?" Gai asks and immediately brightens. He shelves his weights and walks over to Kakashi and brings him into a bone-crushing hug. Kakashi tenses and wishes this wouldn't happen to him that often. A sweaty Gai is disgusting, but a sweaty Gai hugging him is even _worse_. "I'm so glad! Naruto was looking for a job and I thought it would be nice for him to clean your unyouthful apartment!"

He frantically pushes Gai away from him; he doesn't want Gai to hug him any longer than necessary. The maid in the corner chuckles and Kakashi's cheeks heat. _Oh. Martial Arts Sensei. Well, don't I feel like an idiot? And here I kept thinking the kid was a stripper…_

"Why didn't you just tell me that's what he was?" Kakashi asks suspiciously.

The blonde in the corner clears his throat. "Ah, that was my fault," he tells him sheepishly and scratches the back of his neck. "I kind of… went after Bushy-Eyebrow Sensei gave you my calling card."

"That card looked like a strippers!" Kakashi chokes and the boy snickers at him.

"Yes," he replies, grinning deviously. "I was counting on that. Gai-sensei's a good actor, isn't he?"

"Actor?"

"Mhm."

_What. But all he said was cleaning… and that's all the kid did… clean. What is he talking about?_ Kakashi shrugs in response. He really doesn't want to know. Really, _really _doesn't want to know. _At all._

_But I wouldn't mind getting to know Naruto… and the maid costume…_ he leers and hides it with a grin. _This can be fun._

* * *

**Schematic: **_This probably wasn't what you were looking for, Kitsu-Dono, and I'm sorry._

* * *

**PROMPT ORDER****:**

**KumoNoHito**; _Reincarnation _**  
thegreatstepheenie**;_ Hope_**  
fortuna16**; _I Regret Everything_


	9. Pink Hearts

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. But if I did, I'd probably be followed everywhere and my privacy invaded all of the time. So, I'm thankful I don't own Naruto.

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or, if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing, give me a word (for example: hands)**)**

**Schematic: **_Where I am, it's currently Valentine's Day_! _I don't celebrate it, personally, but I know some people do and I thought… I should do this. _

**THE PROMPT ORDER IS LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!**

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

* * *

**Schematic  
Pink Hearts  
**_Kakashi is confused and scared because there's so many hearts in his apartment_

Kakashi runs to his shared apartment at full speed, a gaggle of girls and boys at his heels. He hates this day the most out of every holiday. And really, this isn't even _classed _as a holiday, but. Well, everyone calls it a holiday. He's just being roped into it today… because of all the silly little girls and boys. _Those stupid girls and boys._

He opens the door to his apartment at high speed, closes it and locks it, bracing himself against his door. He closes his eyes in prayer and hopes to Kami no one gets in.

"What's wrong, Kakashi?" Naruto asks, and Kakashi opens his eyes warily. His eyes widen, however, when he sees the inside of his apartment. Horrified, he can only take in everything with wide eyes. Naruto is sitting on his lounge in no clothing – usually that wouldn't make Kakashi horrified (quite the contrary) – and all around his apartment are pink paper hearts.

_Pink. Paper. Hearts._

"What the hell happened to my apartment, Naruto?" he asks, swallowing. _Did someone break into our apartment? Please tell me they did. Please tell me Naruto didn't do this… Naruto, you didn't do this… please._

The man grins at him impishly. "I thought, since it's Valentine's Day, we could celebrate it!"

"_Why are there so many hearts then_?!" Kakashi yells and moves away from the door. He stalks over to Naruto and looks down at him and resolutely ignores the man's nakedness, because _this is important_. _There are pink hearts all around his apartment_!

The man shrugs and looks up at him. "It's Valentine's Day; what else would we have decorated our apartment with?"

"Anything but _those_!" he screeches and points at the monstrosities _decorating _his apartment. "_Look at them_!"

"I think they look nice," Naruto rebuffs, pouting, and Kakashi scowls.

"They are _not nice_!"

"Kakashi…"

"You know what, if you want to celebrate," Kakashi says grumpily. He picks up the blonde, takes him to the door, opens it and thrusts Naruto outside, "then you can _celebrate it outside_!"

"Kakashi!" the man shrieks, and Kakashi immediately closes and locks the door. He hears some screaming and some squealing and he smirks. He then looks around his apartment and sighs sadly.

_This'll take so long to clean up… _he grumbles inwardly and gets to work.

* * *

**PROMPT ORDER****:**

**KumoNoHito**; _Reincarnation _**  
thegreatstepheenie**;_ Hope_**  
fortuna16**; _I Regret Everything_


	10. Reincarnation

**Disclaimer: **-breaks down and cries- I don't own Naruto, so don't hurt or sue me! –wails-

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or,  
if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing,  
give me a word (for example: muffin)**)**

**Schematic: **My favourite word is "flail". It amuses me.

_I laughed so hard, because… because I looked up "Fujin and Raijin" on the Naruto Wiki and. And. Oh my Kami. You should see what they look like. It's… I can't explain it in words._

_I'VE NEVER WRITTEN KISSING BEFORE, OTHER THAN THE PRESSING OF THE LIPS, ASDFGHJKL_

**THE PROMPT ORDER IS LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!**

**WARNING: **AU! Completely AU! The looks of the Gods are taken from the Wikipedia article "Fūjin" and "Raijin". (To see for yourself, Google "Fujin and Raijin Gods".)

**Schematic: **_Ahem. I don't… I don't like the pairing Sasuke/Sakura, (because I don't really like their characters) but, I needed to use them for this story. Ha._

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

* * *

**Schematic  
Prompt by: KumoNoHito  
**_Fujin and Raijin (Did you know that they are always together?)__  
_**Reincarnation  
**_Kakashi and Naruto are reincarnated into Gods_

**Raijin: God of Lightning – Kakashi  
Fūjin: God of Wind – Naruto  
Seichi: Water Demon – Sakura  
Kōjin: God of Fire – Sasuke  
Hachiman: God of War – Gai **

Raijin stares at his near-transparent hands and sighs. He's sitting in his usual spot (near the Big Tree) and he's trying to soak up some sunlight. Sometimes, he has the feeling that his skin should be _skin _and not just the transparent imitation of it. The sun goes straight through him, casting no shadow. He's told a couple of his demon friends about his concerns, but he's been told that he's thinking too much of it, and that he's _hallucinating. _Perhaps he is. After all, all he's ever known is being the _Lightning God_. Sometimes, when it's difficult to get to sleep, he wonders about what his life had been like in a previous life.

He doesn't tell anyone about this, because he _knows_ he'd be laughed at. More than he's being laughed at now, anyway.

"Raijin?" a soft voice asks, and he turns slightly. He looks up and a grin tugs at the edges of his lips. Standing there is Fūjin, the Wind God. The ever-so present bag of winds isn't on the other demon's shoulders and he practically looks _naked_. But that's probably how the other sees him, as well; his drums with his cherished tomoe symbol aren't with him today. "What're you doing, sitting out here by yourself?"

He shrugs, and his eyes are caught by the leopard skin draping over the demon's hips. He eyes it appreciatively, but decides against asking about it; it's probably some sort of cherished thing, like his tomoe is. The other God doesn't usually wear anything over his hips and it's a sight to see. "I'm just here to absorb some sunlight."

The black demon's red lips stretch into an amused grin and flops down next to him, legs crossed, and arms held behind him. "How can you absorb it?"

"Well, considering I have no shadow… I'm positive I'm absorbing it," he says and the other barks out a laugh.

"Sure you are," Fūjin replies, amused.

Raijin hums to himself and looks down at his hands. They're still transparent and in his mind's eye, he can see pale, human skin overlapping it. He startles slightly and the image is gone. He swallows and looks back up at Fūjin, who is watching him intently with a soft smile on his face.

"Don't you…" he clears his throat. "Don't you think we used to be someone else before?"

The red-head tilts his head. "What do you mean? Like… a human?"

He nods hesitantly in response. "I… sometimes I think my skin should've been actual _skin_."

Fūjin looks thoughtful and looks down at his black feet that only have three large toes, with sharp talons at the end. His left hand reaches up to tug at his red hair and he looks back at Raijin. "Sometimes, I think my hair should've been blonde. And… sometimes when I look at you, it's like there's something obscuring your face."

Raijin startles. "This is the first time someone's admitted to something about that around me," he says and, before he can continue or Fūjin can reply, the Gong lets out a piercing cry. The two look apologetically at each other and stand up.

Fūjin immediately takes off, and yells behind his shoulder, "I need to get my winds!"

"I need to get my drums!" he calls back. He's met with cheerful laughter and he runs to his temple.

His temple is dedicated to the Lightning Gods; Raijin is the fortieth and his younger brother (or his son) will be the next in line when he retires. When he's at the temple, goes to the gates where he usually keeps his drums – and finds them suspiciously absent.

"Dad!" he yells. "Where are my drums?!"

"Your brother is cleaning them!" his father yells back and Raijin stares confusedly at the temple.

_What? Cleaning? My drums don't need to be cleaned! _

"Little brother, _where are my drums_?!" he calls, and his younger brother floats over to him, his white skin shining in the sunlight. The boy, meekly, hands over his drums. He sighs. "Sorry for yelling at you, but it's urgent. The Gong has gone off."

His brother nods in understanding, hugs him quickly and runs off, back into the temple. Raijin shakes his head and heads over to the Gong.

* * *

Fūjin cracks a grin at his arrival and waves at him. "Glad you could make it, ghost-boy!"

"Demon-boy," he scowls back and the other God laughs. They're immediately silenced by the Gong man, who is glaring at them both with a prominent frown on his face.

"Great, you're both here, terrific," the man snaps. The horns on his head are flaring, and the two Gods decide unanimously not to piss of the man even more. "Get on with it."

"If you're sure," Raijin grins and leers at Fūjin's leopard skin clad hips. Fūjin only winks back and the man standing before them just mutters incoherently under his breath.

With a deep breath, Raijin opens his palms and places them on the drums. With a quick look at Fūjin, they both start. He bangs on his drums with a careful rhythm, while his fellow God opens the wind bag and takes out his wisps of wind. He clenches them tightly in his fists and then he twists in the spot, waving his arms out. With each beat of the drum, Fūjin carefully whips the wind to the ground.

"You have two hours," the Gong man says to them and leaves.

"Two _hours_?" Fūjin groans and as Raijin looks up, he swears the other demon should have three marks on each cheek like whiskers. He shakes his head to get rid of the image – because _why the hell does Fūjin need whiskers_ – and focuses on the task at hand.

"Well, I can go for two hours straight," he grins. "You can't, can you?"

He's _obviously _taunting the other God, but he knows it'll yield results; it'll keep Fūjin on track and it won't _distract _Raijin.

"Of course I can!" the other replies, rising up to the bait.

* * *

Fūjin grins, flopping onto his back. They're back at Raijin's favourite hangout spot near the Big Tree and Raijin notices the other isn't wearing his leopard skin. He raises an eyebrow.

"So, what was with the leopard skin?" he asks. He's definitely curious; the other does everything he _can _to avoid clothes. It's like the other has a strange aversion to clothing. Not that he can really say anything about that; Raijin only wears green shorts. Really, it's not like he _needs_ the damn piece of clothing – but his temple family _insists _he must.

The other grins and scratches the back of his neck, which was a sign of embarrassment. He knows other demons that can blush as a sign of embarrassment, but Fūjin isn't one of them; his skin is _pitch black _and shows _no colour whatsoever_. They're similar, in a way; he's transparent (so he can only reflect colours) and his friend doesn't _have _any colour, except for the red of his eyes, hair, lips and a strange tattoo on his lower stomach.

"My parents say I must wear the leopard skin because it's a sign of… of _courtship_," the God says and Raijin can tell the other is blushing; he just can't see it. "I don't know what a courtship is," the other continues with a confused look, "but that's what they want me to do."

"Then why aren't you wearing it now?" he asks, amused. _Courtship, huh? So that means he's younger than me. Interesting. But if he's supposed to be wearing that cloth, why isn't he?_

"I'm not wearing it?" Fūjin asks confused and looks down. "Oh. Well, maybe I forgot to put it on after the thunderstorm; I'm not used to wearing it when I'm doing it."

"Ah," _makes sense. _"Don't let anyone catch you without the leopard skin."

"Why not?"

"It means you want to court them," he answers and smiles at the other God. The other male looks at his hands which only have two fingers. His fists clench and unclench before he looks away.

"Even if I did want to court them," he says, still not looking at him, "I don't think they'd want to court _me_."

Raijin shakes his head. "They're idiots if they don't want to court you then, Fūjin."

The other looks back at him and smiles and it looks so _gentle_ on his face. It's endearing and _beautiful._ He shakes his head to get rid of that thought, because his friend is maybe _2000 _years younger than him. It's not uncommon for Gods or demons to get together (even with a wider age gap) but he doesn't feel comfortable thinking of his friend that way.

"Thanks Raijin," the other says and hugs him. He then sits a bit away from him and looks up at the sky, lying back. Raijin continues to sit there, looking down at the other God. "So if I want to court someone, I give them my leopard skin?"

He nods. "Of course; if they don't accept it, they don't want to be courted or they don't want to court _you_. If they want to court you, they accept your courting gift and they'll give you their own courting gift. For example, if you give me your leopard skin, I'll give you my ankle bands."

"An-ankle bands?!" the other splutters and sits up to stare at Raijin's ankles. "I don't see any!"

Raijin shrugs in response. "Maa… they are. They're just hidden."

Fūjin pouts next to him. "I…I think I might give my courting gift to… to Seichi. She… she's a good demon to court, I think."

Raijin freezes. _He's already… but… _"Mou, Fūjin-chan," he says, pouting at him, "you're going to leave me?" he starts to mock cry and looks away, shaking his shoulders for affect. He then wails. A hand pats his back mock-consolingly.

"There there, Raijin, I'll invite you to the wedding," he chuckles, and Raijin's heart breaks a little.

* * *

Raijin hides crouching in the bushes, scowling unattractively. His friend, Fūjin, is standing in front of Seichi, a blue-skinned demon that has pink hair. Her pink lips are pulled back into a small smile, and he thinks Fūjin doesn't have to work much to get her to agree to court him. He leans his elbow on his knee and puts his chin in his palm. _She'll never say no to him. He's a God. You can't get much higher in ranks than that. _He watches as Fūjin scratches the back of his neck, and he knows. He _knows _this is when the other will present his courting gift to her.

He's right; the other God carefully takes off his leopard skin and hands it over to her, who takes it with a confused expression. He sees his friend's mouth moving, which means he's explaining it to her. Her face clears, but then a scowl is painted on and the courting gift is shoved into the other God's chest. Raijin scowls even more heavily and moves out of the bush to get closer to the conversation, hiding behind a tree this time.

He completely ignores his mind telling him that it's wrong to _stalk _people.

"Seichi-chan?" Fūjin asks, and there's a desperate quality to it. Raijin clenches his fists at the tone.

"I'm sorry Fūjin," she replies softly. Her blue-skinned, four-fingered hand comes up to touch his cheek, but he flinches back. Her hand falls limply at her side. "You're a good friend. But, I'm already courting someone else."

Fūjin flinches at the admission. "K-Kōjin?" he mutters weakly and gets a sad smile in return.

"It's taken me five years to get him to think about it," she replies and, instantly, Raijin feels both sorry for her. _Five years? Sure, it's not a long time for us… but for a demon…_

"Oh… uh, congratulations?" Fūjin asks and offers a bright smile. He receives a hug in response. "I didn't know… sorry. When did he finally decide to… you know?"

She lets go and giggles at him. "Oh, just a week ago. It was all so _romantic_…"

Raijin grimaces and decides he's had enough of listening in on them. He really doesn't want to know anything more about it than he has to. He was only curious for _Fūjin's _sake after all.

* * *

Raijin sits on Hachiman's bed, staring at his transparent hands. He looks up at Hachiman's entry, who has a white dove sitting on his shoulder, affectionately nipping at his shoulder. The man smiles at him warmly, showing off his shiny, carnivorous teeth.

"Nice to see you, Raijin," the man says and gives him a thumbs up. Raijin could swear, in that moment, that the man was wearing a green piece of clothing pulled tight across his body, but then he blinks and the image is gone. Which he's thankful for, because he really, _really _doesn't like that image. "What brings you here?"

"I… have found someone to court," he whispers hesitantly, looking down, "but I don't think… I will be courted back."

Hachiman frowns (and Raijin knows the man's frowning because there's a _frowning presence_) and sits next to him. The bed dips and Raijin bumps into the other man slightly. He doesn't mind, so he doesn't move away.

"This isn't like you, my friend," the War God says slowly, and puts his hand on his shoulder. "You should use your usual stubbornness for this. If they hesitate, keep on pestering. It means they have thought of it, but are undecided on whether they should do it, either because they don't know you enough or not enough."

Raijin sighs. "Hachiman. I don't believe that will work with… him."

"Him? Hm," Hachiman mutters thoughtfully, and the dove usually on the other man's shoulder flits to Raijin's hands and nuzzles into them. Raijin smiles slightly down at the bird and pats the thing with his thumb. "Does he have an aversion to same sex couplings? It's very rare that there are anyone with an aversion – everyone doesn't have a set gender…"

"No, no," Raijin shakes his head and looks up at Hachiman, who has kind, onyx eyes. Hachiman's nose twitches slightly, and he wonders what's bothering the other man now; his nose only ever does that when there's something bothering him. "He doesn't have an aversion to it, but I think… perhaps he has an aversion to me."

Hachiman hums thoughtfully. "Perhaps you should just ask. There's no harm in asking to court them."

Raijin glares at him. "It's _Fūjin_."

The other man's eyes widen. "Oh. I thought. Oh," he says, and his eyes widen even more. "Well, then the only harm to come of it is he rejects your courtship." He grins slightly at Raijin. "You'll still be friends."

Raijin stares at his friend sceptically. "You're sure."

"Positive."

"You're _absolutely sure_."

"Yes." A sharp whistle comes from outside, and Hachiman's head whips around, his pointed ears twitching. "It seems I'm needed to grant some prayers." He stands up and whistles.

"Go then," he mutters and looks down at the dove in his hand. It looks up at him, _winks _and flies off to land on the other man's shoulder. The man grins at the bird and then at him.

"Think about what I've said," he says as he leaves, leaving Raijin with his unwelcome thoughts and doubts. He sighs and flops onto his back on the bed.

_Great_.

* * *

Traditionally, the younger God or demon is supposed to present their courting gift to the older God or demon they wish to court. However, Raijin has never been one for traditions, neither are most of the other Gods his age. So, when he hands his ankle bands over to Fūjin, he immediately receives some scowls and odd looks. He doesn't care about them, though; the only reaction he wants to see is from Fūjin and no one else.

"I wish to court you," he says, and the other looks at him with wide eyes, looking down at the ankle bands held loosely in his hands. "I want to know, however, if you wish to court me in return."

The other God swallows nervously. "I – I don't know," he stutters meekly and shrinks away from him. "You're – you're my best friend!" he shrieks. "How am I supposed to just _accept _this?! Have you _always _felt this way about me? Why didn't you tell me about Seichi-chan?!"

Raijin swallows, raising his hands before him in surrender. "I didn't _always _feel this way about you," _maybe that's a lie, maybe I've _always _felt this way about him_, "and I didn't know about Seichi-san. Fūjin… you don't _have _to accept it, but… I would like you to at least _think _about it."

Fūjin flexes his fingers over the ankle bands and sighs, handing them back to Raijin. Raijin's heart breaks a little, but he smiles in response anyway.

"I… I'll think about it," the other says slowly, and Raijin's heart speeds up. Hope blossoms in his chest. "But. But you'll have to take care of your courting gift. I want to exchange if…" he hesitates, "_when_," he amends, "I accept."

Raijin smiles softly, takes his ankle bands off of Fūjin and, before the other can react, he kisses the other's forehead. He quickly turns and bolts and shriek reaches his ears. He knows, as he runs away, that he probably has a goofy grin on his face. But he can't help it. His courtship is being _thought about _by the person he _cares _about. _I have to tell Hachiman!_

* * *

He clutches his head, the Gong sounding loud in his room, reverberating around his skull. It hurts – it hurts _a lot_, which means whatever he's needed for, has to be _beyond _important. He struggles to stand from where he'd fallen, and once he's standing, he blearily looks around him. The Gong sounds again, and it nearly splits his head open. He stumbles as he walks out of his room, and he notices a lot of other Gods outside clutching their heads in pain as well. There are a _lot_ of Gods outside, and he even spots Hachiman amongst them.

He sidles up to the other God, holding his head. The other is grimacing, but is showing no other outward sign that it bothers him. _Perhaps he's used to pain. He is the God of War, after all…_

"What's going on?" he slurs.

"There seems to be a great war down there," he says, pointing downwards. He grimaces again when the Gong sounds and some Gods around them shriek in pain. "I've only ever witnessed this once before, but that was when I was a child."

"There are so many Gods out here," he points out softly.

Hachiman chuckles darkly. "Yes. That is because more than _one _major thing is happening down below. Every God is needed to help or fix the problem."

"How long will this last for?"

Hachiman shrugs. "It can go for weeks, months, years. It depends on the war down below. But, the Gong will cease soon, once everyone needed is present."

* * *

The War going on below lasted for several months, and in those months, everyone was pushed to their limits. But, once it ceases, there's many sighs of relief. They don't immediately start to celebrate and party for all of the hard work that had been done because of how hard some of them had worked.

Everyone, after the war below, slept for three weeks to gather their strength back.

Raijin wakes up, and startles when he feels a warm presence lying beside him. He hesitantly touches the being next to him, and is rewarded with a slight hiss. A head pops up and stares down at him, and Raijin only response is to swallow, because Fūjin had been the one lying beside him.

"What're you doing here?" he hisses, and the other God looks guilty.

"I couldn't sleep," the other says. "You're… you help me sleep. Plus, I wanted to… I wanted to…"

Raijin sighs. "Whatever you wanted to do, we can do it later. We need more sleep."

* * *

A few days later, Raijin sits in the clearing near the Big Tree, with Fūjin next to him. The other continues to fiddle with his fingers, and he wonders what's on the other's mind. He can only guess, but guessing only gets so far.

"What do you want, Fūjin?"

"Remember how we had this conversation about being someone else?" he asks, and Raijin looks up from the other's hands to his face, who looks hesitant.

"Yes," he replies slowly.

"Well…" he fidgets. "I think… I think my name was Naruto in a previous life."

Raijin startles and barks out a laugh. "You… fishcake…" he laughs, looking away. He can tell, even without looking at the other God, that he's pouting.

"Well, it's better than yours, _scarecrow_," the other hisses.

"Scare-scarecrow?!" he gasps. "Me? A _scarecrow_?!"

"Well, you _are_ pretty lanky…"

"Oi!"

"Well, you are… and you're transparent…"

Raijin mutters under his breath and continues to stare at the other, who is suddenly looking at his lap. He tilts his head, wondering what the other is up to now. The other hesitantly looks back up at him and takes in a deep breath. He stands up and motions for Raijin to do the same. He does so, staring curiously at him.

"I asked my parents about courtship," the other starts slowly, and Raijin freezes. "They said that it was tradition for the younger person to start off the courtship, so…" he gently pulls off the leopard skin off of his hips and puts it into Raijin's hands. "So… I thought… since I want you and me to court each other…"

Raijin grins, leans down and takes off his ankle bands. He hands them over to the other, and Fūjin sighs explosively.

"If I'd known you'd agree if you were exhausted, then I should've tried something else," he leers, and he _knows _the other is blushing.

Fūjin clears his throat, leans forward, and presses his lips to his. Raijin wraps his arms around the other's waist in response, dropping the leopard skin to the ground. His ankle bands follow suit, and Fūjin's fingers bury themselves in Raijin's silvery hair. Raijin opens his mouth and nips at Fūjin's bottom lip and Fūjin immediately gasps. He pushes his tongue inside the Fūjin's mouth and the other plunges his tongue into his and their tongues battle. He hums in the back of his throat, pleased.

They need air and they pull back from each other, leaning their foreheads together.

Fūjin grins, panting slightly. "That was fun."

"I can think of other fun things," he leers in response and they both laugh breathlessly.

Fūjin then brings him into another kiss and he complies; he can't deny anything from his little God, after all.

* * *

**Schematic: **_This one ran away with me a bit. Oops. UGH, I GOT 3,000 WORDS INTO THE DAMN STORY AND FOUND OUT THAT RAIJIN AND FUJIN ARE "DEPICTED AS AN ONI". (On one Wikipedia article, it doesn't say that they look like Oni's, and on another one (with lists of the Gods/deities of Japan) says they look like Oni's.) TOO LATE TO FIX IT._

**PROMPT ORDER****:**

**thegreatstepheenie; **_Hope  
_**fortuna16**; _I Regret Everything  
_**mekaraugustine**; _Something Blue_


	11. No Words

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. Nope.

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or, if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing, give me a word (for example: horses)**)**

**THE PROMPT ORDER IS LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!**

**Schematic: **_I won't be updating in a while, sorry; I have to sort out my priorities first. The most I won't be updating for is about a week._

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

* * *

**Schematic  
No Words  
**_Naruto has been mute since he was four_

"_Hey kid, what're you doing out here all alone?" the man asks. Naruto squints against the darkness, stepping backwards a bit to keep the distance between them. He can't see the man properly, but he knows by the voice of the man that the guy shouldn't be trusted. He doesn't know _who _the guy is, _why_ he's talking to him, but he knows this guy is _bad news_._

_Everyone in Konoha (except for Old Man Hokage) is bad news._

"_I won't hurt you," the man says softly. _That's a lie_, Naruto thinks, shutting his eyes tight. He takes in a shuddering breath and wraps his arms around his midsection. The man stalks forward and Naruto steps back. His eyes open in terror when his back meets the wall. He's at the end of the alley and he has nowhere to go. He can't escape._

_**He can't escape.**_

"Naruto," Kakashi whispers softly and Naruto flinches away. He scrambles to his knees, crawls over towards the edge of the bed, grabs the blanket and puts it over himself. He shakily breathes in, his heart thudding painfully against his chest. A gentle hand is put on his shoulder and he flinches. "Naruto."

He inhales sharply.

"Naruto, it's okay," Kakashi whispers. "I'm here." He makes no effort to move his hand, neither does he do anything else except sit there, his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto shakes his head, and tears roll down his cheeks. He clutches the blanket tighter around himself, curls up and lies there, shuddering and gasping for breath.

_Two fingers grasp Naruto's chin and pulls it upwards while the man leans down. Naruto's close enough to see the man's disgust. _

"_Oh, so it's _you_," the man snarls. His fingers retract themselves and his other hand quickly lashes out and tightens around Naruto's throat. Naruto gasps for air, but there's none there. It's all gone. _

_**It's all gone.**_

Kakashi gently curls his fingers around the blanket and peels it out of Naruto's tight grip and flings it on the other side of the room. The blonde immediately hides his face in his hands and Kakashi grabs the younger man and pulls him to his chest. Naruto fights against Kakashi, flailing and taking in frantic, panicked gasps of air.

"Shh, Naruto," Kakashi whispers and gently threads his fingers through Naruto's hair. The younger man freezes.

_Naruto is picked up by the man and blindfolded. He attempts to scream, but the man covers his mouth with his hand. He has no idea where he's going, but when he gets there, he's placed on his back. There is clinking sounds, and suddenly, something sharp is on his neck._

_The pain is unimaginable and he screams._

"I'm here," Kakashi whispers.

_When Naruto wakes up in a hospital bed covered in blood, a teenager with silver hair is standing by the wall, his uniform covered in blood just like Naruto. The difference, however, is that the blood on the teenager is not his; some of it's Naruto's. Naruto is drenched in his own blood._

_When he tries to speak, he realises that he can't._

_**He can't speak and he'll never speak again.**_

Naruto cries into Kakashi's chest, his body curled in on itself. Kakashi hums; it's gentle and soothing and soon, he's no longer frightened. He looks up and meets Kakashi's gentle smile and gentle eyes. He smiles back and its weak, but Kakashi looks relieved.

"You gave me a scare," Kakashi murmurs, and kisses his forehead. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Naruto shakes his head violently and Kakashi doesn't press.

"I love you," Kakashi whispers and Naruto's weak smile is stronger this time. He nods enthusiastically, takes Kakashi's hand and puts it to Naruto's cheek. The man chuckles and Naruto laughs soundlessly. "Do you want to go back to sleep, or do you want to get up?"

Naruto thinks for a second, wraps his arms around Kakashi and pushes him to the bed. He snuggles into Kakashi's side and in turn, Kakashi wraps his own arms around Naruto. They fall asleep, cuddling against each other, both with small smiles on their faces.

* * *

**PROMPT ORDER****:**

**thegreatstepheenie**_; Hope  
_**fortuna16**; _I Regret Everything  
_**mekaraugustine**; _Something Blue  
_**DREAMER1084**; _Forgotten_


	12. Hope

**Disclaimer: **I'm getting _reaaaally _tired of this, you know? I don't own Naruto, but people keep dogging me _everywhere_. It's insane, you know? Sometimes I just want to… -becomes a Queen Ant and makes everyone wait on me hand and foot-

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or, if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing, give me a word (for example: children)**)**

**THE PROMPT ORDER IS LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!**

**Schematic: **_KAKASHI, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH A FUCKING CUTIE_?! _Let me tell you right now about how shitty I feel every time I don't finish a prompt within the day I get it. Sorry it took so damn long!_

**SPECIAL THANKS TO****: fortuna16 for helping with this!**

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

* * *

**Schematic  
Prompt by: thegreatstepheenie (tumblr)  
(**_To see the full prompt, scroll to the bottom_!**)  
Hope  
**_Kakashi finds out there's a little bit of hope in his future_

Kakashi runs his fingers gently over his stomach and sighs. His eyes roll upwards to look at the end of his bed and he freezes, his heart speeding up at the sight that greets him. His hands press down painfully into his stomach and he grimaces, but he doesn't take his eyes off of what he's seeing. Rin is sitting on the edge of his bed, her feet dangling over the edge. She looks up at him with a small smile and waves at him. He bolts up into a sitting position but doesn't move any closer to her.

"R-Rin?" he chokes but the girl just laughs breathlessly and mouths something at him, a happy grin on her face. She's trying to say something, but there's no sound. He doesn't know if he even wants to know what she's trying to say.

Everything is silent and there's a buzzing in his ears. He closes his eyes tightly and when he opens them again, Rin is gone.

"I'm going insane," he whispers to himself and puts his hands over his eyes. His fingers are hot and clammy, which means he's either been working himself too hard, he's sick, or he's just scared witless. He isn't sure which one he wants it to be, but he knows only one that would be reasonable; he's scared witless.

He can't see anything and hopefully, when he moves his hands away from his face, he won't see Rin again.

"_**You're not going insane," Obito says, chuckling darkly. "How can you go insane when you already **_**are**_**?"**_

The voice is new. He's never heard the voice before (only on the _living _person) so it comes as a shock to hear a dead person's voice in his head.

"I'm going insane," he repeats himself. He moves his fingers away from his eyes and as he does so, he notices nothing out of the ordinary in his room. Rin's still gone.

_There's silent laughter in his ears, and he wonders if that's from Rin or from Obito – or maybe it's just Kakashi slowly losing his mind._

* * *

Kakashi shakily runs his fingers over Rin's name but quickly retracts them as if burnt. He has no right to be mourning Rin since he was the one that _killed _her. He turns away, putting his fingers over Obito's eye. He doesn't want Obito to see this. He's not sure why he thinks Obito can see this (other than hearing Obito's voice regularly while he's awake) but maybe it's because his new eye is _Obito's_. Not _his_.

"_**I have a right to be near Rin," Obito points out, scowling. "**_**I'm **_**the one that loves her. **_**I'm **_**the one who cares. **_**I**_** can mourn**_**.**_**" He makes no mention of the eye either way, and Kakashi wonders if that's a good or a bad thing.**_

Kakashi shakes his head gently and walks away from the headstone sticking out of the ground. He has no right to be there. _Obito should be there instead of me_. He needs to find flowers for Rin. When Rin was alive, he didn't think on much of Rin's likes or dislikes (only the really obvious one – where the girl had a silly little _crush _on him. Perhaps it wasn't silly after all) so he doesn't know what kind of flowers to put on – _near _– her grave. He doesn't know what to gift Obito with and he doesn't know where to put it. Putting something near the KIA stone… it didn't seem _right_. This is what he's been battling with ever since Obito had died. _What to gift Obito_…

It seems stupid to be worrying about something like this, but this is a _comrade_, a _friend_, someone he _cares for_. _Cared _for. It's been _months_, and yet Kakashi still has no clue what to gift Obito. He'll just have to figure it out. The only thing Obito ever wanted was for Rin to be _safe_ and the only way Kakashi can honour that now… is if he made Rin rise up from her grave.

_Which wasn't going to happen anytime soon. _

"_**It sounds like a great idea," Obito mused, tapping his chin. "Bring her back to life. Die in her place. It sounds pretty reasonable." And maybe it does.**_

* * *

He gently holds a plum in his hand and prods it with the tip of his fingers. Other fruits, such as oranges and strawberries and lettuce can easily be chosen, but not plums. Plums had to be firm but soft. Not hard. He puts down the plum; it's too hard and firm – too _ripe_. He looks up at the grocer, who offers him a hesitant smile in response. _Why do they always react this way to me? _

"_**Because you're an asshole," Obito points out. It's a fair point, considering. Kakashi **_**is**_** an asshole. It's not like he can change that about himself. It's like trying to make the grass purple. It's never going to happen unless you force it to… like putting purple dye on it. **_

He smiles back at the grocer and leaves the stall. His hands are bare of groceries, which means he won't be eating home-made food tonight. _Maybe I should give Minato-sensei a visit? _Once he's out of eyesight, his smile fades.

"_**Minato-sensei's the Hokage – he doesn't have time for **_**you **_**anymore."**_

He shakes his head and tells himself he shouldn't bother Minato-sensei anymore. He'll just have to go to Ichiraku Ramen by himself; maybe he'd bump into Kushina or Minato accidentally on the way there? Hope begins to blossom in his chest, but then he crushes it as suddenly as it appears. There's no time for _hope_.

"Kakashi!" a voice yells and, before he can react, he's being tackled into the ground. Gai is hugging his back and wailing about having not seen Kakashi for a _long time_. Not seeing Kakashi for a long time is true; Kakashi's been avoiding Gai for nearly a month now. He just didn't know how he was supposed to act around people he knew, now that he'd killed his own _teammate_. For that matter, how come he was still a Konoha shinobi? Didn't his village look down on things like this? "What have you been up to, my friend?!"

"Gai, get off," he mumbles into the dirt, and Gai immediately complies, springing up from his back with a very enthusiastic 'sorry!' and helping him up. He lets the other boy do this, and maybe that's why Gai stares at him with concern.

"What's the matter?" Gai asks. He's about to reply when something catches Kakashi's eye; a flash of brown and purple, orange and black. He turns, keeping the colours in his eyesight. The colours swirl around and create shapes. A girl – Rin Nohara – is made of the colours, and in her hand is another hand. Attached to that hand is Obito Uchiha, and they're smiling at each other. They turn their heads and see him, and his breath is caught in his throat.

They're smiling at him.

_They're smiling at him._

"_**That's what we should be like," Obito growls. "But it's not. We're not like that anymore. Everything's **_**ruined**_**."**_

"Kakashi?" Gai asks and shakes his shoulders. He jerks back and looks at the boy, whose face is set in a concerned grimace. A grimace is not something that should be associated with concern, yet that's what's on his friend's face. "What's wrong?"

He looks back to the spot, hoping to see the image again.

But it's bare. They're gone.

"They're gone," he whispers. Gai raises an eyebrow, but Kakashi continues to stare at that same spot. He's fine.

Obito and Rin are not _fine._

* * *

Kakashi sits on top of the Hokage Monument, his legs drawn up and his chin resting on his knees. The wind ruffles his hair, sweeping the bangs on the side of his face into his eyes. He lazily looks over the landscape, his eyes taking nothing in. Images flash before his eyes, and he doesn't want them to. They're not _happy_ and they're all _his fault_.

_Rin looks up at him and smiles. Two lines of blood drip down the sides of her mouth, but she's still smiling through the pain. His hand is clenched tightly in the chest cavity of where her heart used to be (but now it's gone, gone, _gone_) but now it's on the ground, shattered, pulverised; it doesn't even look like a heart anymore. Her ribs are uncomfortable around his wrist (he can feel the bones scraping against his, and he knows he's bleeding now; those ribs are now _smashed _into his wrist) and he freezes. He releases his chidori and the chirping, buzzing noise is gone, to be replaced with silence._

_The only noise he hears is his ragged breathing. He shakily retracts his arm from Rin's chest. He chokes. Tears spill out of Obito's eye (is that how Obito feels, or is it what Kakashi feels?) and once Kakashi has his hand out of Rin's chest, she collapses backwards to the ground. Blood blooms around her, as if her blood, in death, is giving something beautiful in return. But it's not beautiful. Not to him. She's dead._

_**Dead.**_

Kakashi buries his face against his knees and he tightens his arms around his legs. He breathes in deeply; the scent of the village reaches his nose through the cloth on his face and the smell should make him calm down. But it doesn't. It makes it _worse_.

_Obito is looking up at him, sadness lingering in his eyes. Kakashi channels chakra into his hands and pushes them against the boulder to get it off, to move it, to do _something_. He has to do something. He's a lousy teammate, a lousy friend – he's a lousy person and he needs to do _something_ at least. _

"_It looks like that's it for me," Obito says breathlessly, and Kakashi pushes against the boulder with all of his might. This was his first mission as a Jounin – his first mission where he's the _Team Leader _and his subordinate, his friend, his teammate, his _family_, is dying. He struggles uselessly against the giant rock. The chakra in his hands isn't working; he's never been good at this sort of thing, and he curses himself inwardly for his faults. "The right side of my body is almost smashed… there's no feeling in it."_

_Rin stands to the side and looks on with horrified eyes. Tears are in her eyes and a few escape to cascade gently down her cheeks._

"_Sh-shit," Kakashi mutters, and it's the first time he's _sworn_, the first time he's shown an emotion other than _cold-hearted detachment_. _

"_Look after Rin for me."_

_**Look after Rin for me.**_

The wind ruffles his hair. _Look after Rin for me. D_ead eyes look up at him. _Look after Rin for me. _Brunette strands brush against his clothed face. _Dead._ Blood on his hands. _Dead. _Bones digging painfully into his forearms. _Dead._ Blood under his skin. _Dead._ Glassy eyes staring up at him. _Dead._ Smiling mouth. _Look after Rin for me. Dead._

_The one thing Obito asked me to do for him and look how well that turned out. I can't even fulfil a promise. Rin's _dead_._

"'_**Look after Rin for me'," Obito quotes, snarling. "You said you would, and look where she is now. She's **_**dead**_**. Look at what you've done. **_**Look at what you've done**_**!"**_

"Kakashi."

Kakashi looks up to see bright blue eyes looking down at him with a gentle smile.

"_**Kakashi, she's dead," Minato says softly, looking down at the girl in his arms with blank eyes. Kakashi didn't think eyes so full of life could ever be so **_**empty**_** and yet they are. **_**And it's all his fault.**

"Yes?"

"_**It's your fault she's dead!" Obito screams, pushing against Kakashi's chest angrily. Kakashi stumbles, but rights himself again. "I told you to look after her!" He points at the girl in the grass, who has a small smile plastered on her face. "LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"**_

"So this is where you've been."

_Rin looks up at him with a smile on her face. Obito looks up at him with sad eyes. _

**They're dead. **_**And there's nothing you can do about it.**_

He breathes in slowly and exhales just as slowly. "They're dead."

And just for a moment, after he admits it… all of the (_false_) images are gone. _For now_, at least.

_The voice is still there with him, though. And maybe he'll never get rid of that voice._

* * *

He wakes to a white ceiling with three cracks where his eyes are trained. He hears a sharp intake of breath and he turns his head to look at where the noise has come from and sees a sight he wishes he didn't have to see. Minato-sensei sits there in a hospital chair, watching him intently. Kakashi looks away, uncomfortable with the attention.

"When did you sleep last?" Minato asks. It's barely a whisper, but he's heard it. He has sharp hearing and a sharp nose. Maybe that's why Minato never says anything above a whisper when he's near Kakashi. _Because I can always hear what he's saying._

"_**You should've died with her," Obito accuses him softly.**_

_I can always hear someone saying something, no matter if they're __**dead **__or __**alive**__._

He tilts his head, contemplating. He mulls over it; should he lie or tell the truth? In the end, he settles for truth. He turns towards the man and looks him in the eye. "A few days ago."

_There are too many voices in my head, sensei. _

"_**You should've died with **_**me**_**," Obito snarls.**_

The man hums and leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. He rests his chin in the palm of his hand, and continues to watch him intently. His blue eyes are sad –_ Obito stares at him with sad eyes_ – and his face looks as tired as Kakashi feels.

He's the Hokage, _so why is Minato-sensei in here with him_?

"Why haven't you been sleeping, Kakashi?"

He hesitates. He swallows.

_Because everywhere I look, there's __**death. **_

"Nightmares."

The man gives an apologetic hum. "It's a fact of ninja life," Minato says, slowly, softly, _gently_. Kakashi knows this – he's _seen _death, he knows death; _he causes death… but why are there so many nightmares?_ "But," the man continues, before Kakashi can continue to think, "it never gets easier."

Kakashi swallows. He looks away. He can't look at those damn _gentle eyes anymore._

"_**That's because you don't deserve it," Obito chuckles darkly. "After all, look at what you've **_**done**_**."**_

_And now they're day-nightmares._

"This isn't healthy," Minato tells him softly.

_I know _that_, tell that to my nightmares – day-nightmares._

"I know," he agrees.

"I've sorted out a mission for you," Minato informs him. The blonde's the Hokage now, and Kakashi's seen this coming for a _long _time, but his sensei issuing him a _mission_?

"But I'm not –" _Healthy enough. Strong enough. _Stable _enough._

"You need this," Minato interrupts him firmly, and Kakashi nods hesitantly. He gets a bright grin in return and Kakashi _feels _like mirroring that grin back at the only remaining person he _cares _for. But… he _can't_. Everything's gone to shit, so why should he be _happy_?

"_**Minato-sensei's giving you more than you**_** deserve**_**," Obito growls. "After all… you killed **_**Rin**_**."**_

Kakashi finds he can't refute that, because… he had.

Perhaps going on this mission could kill him off?

_**Obito nods in approval, and Kakashi wonders if this is the right choice. Perhaps it is. Obito really wants it, so it can't be so bad. **_**Right?**

He turns his face away from Minato, and on the opposite wall is Rin, who is leaning there with a bright smile on her face. She's making hand gestures, and he wonders at what they _mean_. That he's happy for him? That she's _angry _at him? Why is she always _there_?

* * *

Kakashi flips his headband down to cover Obito's eye – _my eye, _Kakashi reminds himself – as he walks down the road with Gai on his right. They're two Jounin's, and they're more than capable of handling themselves. But, right now, he's starting to doubt himself, _which he shouldn't_. Because that sort of thinking gets you – or someone else – _killed_.

But why did Minato have to choose _Gai _to go with him? They're both strong, sure, but why someone he feels _camaraderie _with?

"_**He's the only friend you have **_**left **_**and he's going to die because of you," Obito whispers softly. "Just like Rin."**_

_He's not –_

"_**Yes, he is," Obito points out. "You killed Rin. You're going to kill **_**him **_**too. Don't fool yourself."**_

_Shut up –_

"_**His death will be your fault too," Obito repeats.**_

"Shut up," Kakashi whispers underneath his breath. No one hears him, and that's fine. No one was _supposed _to.

**(**_because then he'd feel even more crazy than he already _is**)**

**LINE BREAK**

They hit Lightning Country at nightfall, right into an ambush. They should've seen this coming (because no mission is without _surprise_) but they didn't. Which makes it _all Kakashi's fault._

"_**I told you his death would be your fault as well," Obito murmurs.**_

The fight blurs before his eyes (_he's not paying attention, ghosts are flitting before his eyes, Obito attacking him and Rin crying in the background) _–

– _Gai yells at him to get out of there, "I've got this handled, Kakashi!" –_

"_**You're fucking useless," Obito observes. It's so matter-of-fact, and Kakashi has his doubts about this being the **_**real **_**Obito (Obito was never matter-of-fact), but the words are Obito's. They sting. They hurt him **_**so much**_** because it's **_**true**_**. Everything that's true (that's pointed out) always hurts.**_

a flash of green and orange screams before his eyes –

- _Gai panics and yells, trying to run in front of the Jutsu that's heading for Kakashi –_

"_**Gai's **_**LOSING **_**because you won't help him," Obito points out.**_

but Gai's too slow; it hits him and in the next second, Kakashi's gone.

**(**_he doesn't see anything except Gai's horrified face before he's gone in a flash of light; Kakashi blames himself, because he should've been _paying attention _but he _wasn't**)**

_Gai stares at the place Kakashi had been and turns around. His eyes are glinting, but there are some angry tears at the edge of his eyes. He moves in closer, shucks off his weights and lets loose. He kills everything in his sight._

_The only friend Gai's ever had is __**gone**__._

* * *

Green leaves obscure his vision. He pushes himself up into a sitting position, and all he can see is green leaves. _Where am I? Where's…_

_Gai stares at him with a horrified expression, yelling at him, "Get out of the way!"_

_Where's Gai?_

He jumps to his feet and looks around. The gates to Konoha stands before him, and he wonders, for a brief moment, how he's _here_. The last thing he knows is being in Lightning Country, being in an ambush. He didn't count how many people were there (his head wasn't in the game – he was too preoccupied by… _other things_) so he doesn't know how Gai's fairing. Or how _he's _fairing, for that matter.

"_**You were too preoccupied with **_**dying**_**," Obito points out. "You didn't do a very good job of it, did you? Looks like **_**Gai **_**is the one that's dying, not you." **_

Kakashi shakes his head to will away the voice. Obito… was never this mean. Sure, he'd yell at Kakashi for being an asshole (which he _was_) but he never said anything to intentionally… _hurt Kakashi like this._

"_**I'm as real as you are."**_

It doesn't fill him with confidence.

He starts towards Konoha gates, wondering if Gai's already here (because how'd Kakashi get here otherwise?) or if he's still in Lightning Country (and if so, how'd Kakashi get here?).

He gets to the gates and the people sitting there look familiar, but they can't be all that… familiar. He does a double-take because, he's sure the familiar people didn't look so… _old. _

"Kotetsu? Izumo?" he says, and the two look up from their boring game of Go. Their faces immediately pale once they see him, which is odd. But even more odd is the way they answer to the names. As if it's their own. Which it can't be, because the Kotetsu and Izumo he knows are _younger_. _Much _younger.

"Ka-Kakashi?" Kotetsu stutters.

"What happened to you?" Izumo says. "You look… _young._"

He's confused, because he's the age he's _supposed to be_ and yet the other two… are clearly _not_. _What's going on?_

"_**You're insane," Obito says. He's said this before, back when Kakashi first saw the image of Rin in his bedroom. He's not sure how he's supposed to feel, because he clearly **_**is **_**insane.**_

"I'm insane," he breathes, and the two continue to stare at him. They then, much to his confusion, make an ANBU hand signal and the next thing he knows, three ANBU are apprehending him. He's being dragged somewhere – perhaps the Hokage Tower or the Torture and Interrogation Division – and he's not sure why he's being taken.

Don't they remember him?

They clearly do, because of Kotetsu and Izumo responding to him (calling him by name) but perhaps… perhaps they think he's an imposter. But _why_?

As they're bodily taking him where they're taking him (why are there three of them? Why aren't they just _poofing _there?) he notices the Hokage Monument. His brain freezes for a moment because.

_Why are there so many Hokage faces? Minato's there… but… Tsunade of the Sannin? Some kid with whisker marks? What's… going on?_

"_**You're insane, you're insane, you're insane," Obito cackles, and Kakashi's inclined to agree. He's going even more insane than he already was.**_

* * *

He sits on an uncomfortable chair with his wrists bound to the armrests and his feet bound to the legs of the chair. A woman with blonde hair is standing in front of him, her face severe.

"Who are you?" he asks, because he's never seen _this _woman before in his life. He knows nearly every person in the village, and this woman isn't one of them. She does, however, have a striking resemblance to Inoichi Yamanaka. _Perhaps his cousin?_

"I should be asking you that," she snarls. "Why are you impersonating Hatake Kakashi? You're not doing a very good job of it."

_That's because I am him. Not doing a good job of being me? How is that even possible? _"I am Hatake Kakashi."

She stares at him for a long moment and then steps forward. "You –"

She's interrupted by the door on the far side of the room slamming open. She turns around and he cranes his neck to see who's decided to come into an interrogation. Whoever it is, he's sure they're about to get a severe tongue-lashing as well as some welts and bruises.

"_**She seems the type."**_

"Naruto," she breathes and then, "Kakashi."

Kakashi freezes in his seat. _What? _He can't see anything except for the blonde woman's back, and a couple of feet clad in shinobi sandals. He can't discern who these new people are.

"I heard something about a Kakashi impersonator," a gravelly voice says lightly, "and I've heard that it wasn't a very _good _one. Why isn't it good?"

"Because he's too young," the woman replies, and Kakashi's even more confused. _Too young? Too _young_?_

"_**Looks like they're misunderstanding something," Obito murmurs, "and they're going to get you killed. Well, we'll both get what we want out of it, regardless."**_

_Shut up._

"Too young?" a lazy drawl sounds out and he hears a scratching sound, as if someone's scratching their head or their body. "Maa, how old does he look?"

"Around… fourteen?" the woman says, and there's a loud sigh.

"So it's happened," the lazy voice whispers, and he wonders if he's supposed to hear this or not. He doesn't understand what's going on and the next thing he knows, the woman leaves the room and slams the door behind her.

He catches silver and more blonde before the door is fully closed.

* * *

He doesn't know how long he's been in here, but it's been a while. Everything is starting to itch and he can't do anything about it.

"_**They're probably discussing your death. I'm not surprised. They've come to the conclusion that you're a Konoha murderer and shouldn't –"**_

_Shut up –_

"_**- be allowed to live –"**_

_Shut up –_

"_**- around other people –"**_

_SHUT UP –_

"_**- lest they suffer the same fate."**_

The voice will never leave him. _Obito _will never leave him, and he wonders if Obito's still with him because he has Obito's eye, or because he just needs to listen to everything in his life that's gone wrong. Perhaps he's atoning for Obito and Rin's deaths.

The door opens and a blonde – that looks similar to Minato – walks in with three whisker marks on each cheek (and he's the face he saw on the Hokage Mountain) with a man at his side that looks… kind of like Kakashi. Everything – even to the last detail – looks exactly like an older version of Kakashi and… he doesn't…

"I'm not the impersonator," Kakashi whispers. The older one chuckles softly.

"No," the other agrees. "Neither am I."

"_**You're crazy."**_

_I'm crazy._

"I don't…" he whispers and looks over to the blonde, who has a look of surprise and wonderment etched into his face.

"Oh," the man says, as if he's come across some great revelation and had only just realised it now. "Oh."

"See Naruto," the older – _fake_ – Kakashi grins, looking over to the blonde, "I'm not crazy."

"Sure you're not," Naruto mutters. "I still think this is all just a dream and I'm dreaming this. A _time _Jutsu. _Really_? This doesn't make sense."

"It didn't make sense back then either," the older Kakashi admits. They both look at him and he's uncomfortable with the intense looks he's being given.

The blonde moves forward and kneels before Kakashi. "I know this is a lot to take in –"

"Trust me it is," the older Kakashi grumbles and the blonde just ignores him and continues on.

"– but, Kakashi, you're in the future."

_Yes. I'm crazy. Why couldn't I have just died instead of Obito? I'm pretty sure Obito wouldn't have gone crazy. Fuck._

"_**I wouldn't have," Obito agrees. "You're just very unhinged and unstable. You always have been. You've been pretty useless too, and now you're stuck in a fantasy world."**_

* * *

Eventually, he's – only slightly – convinced that he's in the future. The blonde man – Naruto Uzumaki – shows him the Hokage archives (that only the Hokage can see), specifically the one pertaining to him. The older Kakashi hangs back, his hands in his pockets, slouching against the back wall, as Kakashi reads through his file.

Everything is the same up until around fourteen, where he's enlisted in the ANBU. Minato has, on more than one occasion, suggested that Kakashi go into the ANBU, but he's declined, simply because… he's not ready. He's too unstable, and yet in this file... he enlists in two months. _Two months._

"_**ANBU have always been slightly crazy," Obito mutters. "You'll fit right in with them."**_

He ignores the voice and turns towards the older Kakashi. Naruto leaves the room with a jaunty salute and he's slightly warmed by it. He's being trusted, even though he shouldn't be. He doesn't know if it's because the blonde Hokage is just an idiot, or if he really trusts the younger Kakashi.

The question on his face must've been obvious, because the older Kakashi speaks softly. "He's an idiot, true," the man says, "but he trusts me. Which means he trusts you, too, since you're me."

Kakashi curiously steps forward. "If you're me, how do you… how do you deal with Obito?"

The man smiles at him gently. "That's up to you. I… found something – _someone _– to look forward to. You… you'll have to figure it out on your own."

"_**No matter how old you are, you're an asshole," Obito says. Perhaps Kakashi is an asshole in Obito's eyes – this older version, anyway – but it's only because Obito doesn't **_**understand.**_** And this is where the real Obito and the fake Obito overlap; the real Obito didn't understand undertones and neither does the fake Obito.**_

"How long did you have to wait for that person?" he questions. He's curious, he admits. He has to know how long _he_ has to wait to get rid of Obito. How long it'll take to make him _happy._

"_**You'll never be happy."**_

"Twelve years," the older Kakashi replies. _That's a long time. _"And… six more years to make that person mine."

_Eighteen years all up… I'll be…thirty-two… when I'm happy again. _

He swallows. "How old are you now?"

"Really old," the older man chuckles. "I'm forty-four."

_I'm really old in shinobi years. By rights, I should've died near my twenties…_

"_**By rights," Obito mutters, "you should've died at thirteen."**_

He can't refute that.

* * *

"Is Gai still alive?" he asks, and he's immediately shushed by a harassed looking older Kakashi. The blonde, instead of shushing him, places his hand over Kakashi's clothed mouth with wild eyes.

"Don't say his name," he hisses. "You'll summon him."

"KAKASHI! MY ETERNAL RIVAL!" a voice yells and the elder men freeze and slowly turn around. There, standing in a good guy pose, is Gai, with his ridiculous green spandex and orange legwarmers. His teeth are impossibly white and shining. "HOGAKE-SAMA, WHAT A NICE SURPRISE TO SEE YOU HERE WITH –"

"Too late," Naruto mutters.

Naruto grabs Kakashi around his waist and places him on his shoulders as if he's a sack of potatoes. Dazed, Kakashi watches as the older Kakashi lazily makes his way towards the elder Gai.

_Well, at least he isn't dead._

"_**At least you're not that useless."**_

The last thing he sees before Naruto and he vanish from the Ichiraku Ramen stall (and wasn't it a wonder that the stall still _existed_) is the older Kakashi playing rock-paper-scissors.

* * *

He wakes up slowly to an aged ceiling. He hears slow murmuring, so he gets out of bed and makes his way to Naruto's bedroom. He's sharing the house with the older Kakashi and Naruto (seeing as he has no house in this timeline) and he wonders why they're still up. It's probably midnight.

He gets to the bedroom door and peeks in. His eyes widen at the sight he sees.

The older Kakashi is leaning against the bed frame, his fingers digging into the blonde's hair. Naruto is lying in between Kakashi's legs, his back against the older Kakashi's chest. They look up at him and smile. He feels ridiculously awkward.

He's pretty sure he's not supposed to see this, but he does anyway. And even if he isn't supposed to see this, he probably should; this is _his_ future, after all. _But why is he with Naruto, of all people? Wouldn't anyone else be better?_

"Come up here," Naruto says, and Kakashi shakes his head. He really doesn't want to get up there with them. It's not that he's scared, or anything. He just doesn't want to… _intrude. _The level stare Naruto gifts him with, however, wilts his resolve. "Come on."

"You should get up here," the older Kakashi murmurs, "he gets really pushy when things don't go his way."

Naruto slaps the man's knee. "No I don't," he grumbles.

Kakashi slowly edges towards them as they speak.

"Maa, yes you do. Remember that time Iruka refused to go get Ramen with you on your off day and you just grabbed him and took him there using bodily means?"

"That's not pushy –" Naruto splutters.

"Or that time Neji wouldn't go on a mission with Gai or Lee without Tenten because he couldn't 'deal with their youthfulness' and you –"

"I didn't –"

"– and you said that if Neji didn't do this mission, you would tell Hinata he was being a 'bad boy'."

Kakashi crawls onto the bed and sits cross-legged a distance away from them. He's sure they've forgotten he even exists, but it's nice to just listen to someone talk. He hasn't had this for a while; every time he sees Minato, the man only asks what's wrong and never… just talks about _anything else_.

"_**That's because you're a handful and he has to talk about your problems."**_

Naruto scowls. "Don't listen to him little Kakashi, he's telling _lies_."

The older Kakashi rolls his eyes but then a mischievous glint enters his eyes and he pulls down his mask, turns Naruto's face towards him and kisses him. Kakashi stares at them wide-eyed, because… he's never pulled down his mask for _anyone_, and to just see this… it's like saying the man completely _trusts Naruto with his life._ Is this what he has to look forward to in sixteen years? _Complete trust_?

Hope is slowly building up and it's not being crushed.

"_**No one will ever trust you."**_

Not even with Obito's scathing words.

Once the kiss is finished, the mask is pulled back up and Kakashi is violently pulled against Naruto's chest. He freezes and tenses. He doesn't… know how to react. He's not used to this. He doesn't know if he ever _can_ be. But… maybe he _can _get used to it, because… it seems like the older Kakashi is pretty used to it. He even seems to like it.

Naruto hums. "We should sleep."

The older Kakashi makes an agreeable noise, and then they're both asleep.

Kakashi soon follows, feeling warmth blossom in his chest. Naruto's arms tighten around him and pull him closer, his nose nuzzling his silver hair.

* * *

"He looks so _cute_!" Sakura giggles, and Kakashi backs away a bit, because he's dealt with this before with Rin. Rin, however, hadn't been so… _forceful_ or _giggly_. The woman has a pink haired child hiding behind her legs, with a dark-haired child scowling next to her. Kakashi can make an assumption to say their her children, but that would mean Naruto's the same age. Which means…

_Why doesn't Naruto or his older self have any children?_

"Mou, don't call me cute, Sakura-chan," the older Kakashi pouts. The pink-haired woman turns and scowls at him.

"I'm not calling _you_ cute! I'm calling _him _cute!"

"But he _is _me!"

"But you're younger self is _cute_!"

Kakashi's older self gasps. "I'm not _cute_?!"

Naruto pats the older man's head with a sad sigh. "Well, you're not."

He watches as the older Kakashi pulls away. "Naruto! You wound me! You're supposed to be on _my_ side!"

"Well you aren't cute," Naruto grumbles. "You're handsome and sexy and suave. You're anything _but _cute."

His older self leers. "Well, if you're going to – ow! Sakura!"

Kakashi watches them in amusement, but hope is rising in his chest. His body feels warm and he catches himself smiling. His older self looks so happy. Something Kakashi hasn't felt in a long time. Not since…

_But I won't think about that now._

Maybe there's hope for him yet. Maybe…

* * *

Naruto kisses his forehead and then turns to the older Kakashi and kisses his forehead, too. The older one pouts and whines.

"Why do I only get a forehead kiss?!"

Naruto scowls at him. "Because I don't want to scar Kakashi for life."

"But he's me! Trust me, he won't be scarred for life!"

"I will," Kakashi mumbles, and that makes Naruto smile at him and the older Kakashi scowl at him. He feels warmth blossom in his chest when Naruto smiles, and he wonders what that is. He tentatively smiles back.

"I think I like this version better," Naruto beams and the older Kakashi rolls his eyes.

"I can be like that! I _was _that!"

"But you can't be cute anymore."

Kakashi hides his face when he sees the older Kakashi pout. He has the sudden urge to giggle or laugh or… or hug Naruto.

He notices how quiet it's gotten in his head, and he wonders where Obito's gone. He didn't think the boy could ever leave. But it looks like he has.

Maybe it's because he has someone to look forward to. _Naruto _is someone he can look forward to seeing again. Perhaps all the hope that's blossoming in his chest and all the attachment he's seeing in his older self and the attachment that he's gaining is why Obito's gone.

* * *

There's a bright light, and when he opens his eyes again, Naruto and his older self is nowhere to be seen. He's lying in the hospital bed and when he turns his head, he sees Gai's tearful face.

"I… I thought you were…" Gai mutters, and Kakashi allows himself a smile.

"I'm okay," he replies. Because he really is now. Obito's gone and the images are gone. Now the only thing he has to worry about is finding a gift to put near Obito's grave. He's engulfed in a hug and he hugs back. It's good to see the younger Gai again.

* * *

**Prompt by thegreatstepheenie: **Have younger Kakashi be hit with a time-travel jutsu and come to the future?Kakashi-young Kakashi-is still so emotionally, socially stunted (of his own volition, no doubt) and so he's wary of attachments, but he's stuck in a predicament where he sees himself in the future and the bonds he's made, and then there's Naruto, and his older self looks so happy and at peace. And he starts to feel like maybe there's hope. That things will get better; because Naruto's someone to look forward to.

**PROMPT ORDER****:**

**fortuna16**; _I Regret Everything  
_**mekaraugustine**; _Something Blue  
_**DREAMER1084**; _Forgotten  
_**Moonstone blaze**_; Safe Haven_


	13. I'm pretty so shut up

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, neither does my asshole of a cat.

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or, if you have no idea what you want,  
but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing,  
give me a word (for example: pumpkins)**)**

**THE PROMPT ORDER IS LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!**

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

* * *

**Schematic  
I'm pretty so shut up  
**_Kakashi is wearing a wedding dress and Naruto is confused_

He steps into the empty church and freezes. He's pretty sure he's hallucinating, because this will never happen otherwise. Kakashi is standing at the alter, but that's not the thing he's probably – _most definitely _– hallucinating about. No, what he's hallucinating about is Kakashi in a wedding dress.

He knows the man has a few kinks – what shinobi _doesn't_? – but he's pretty sure this isn't one of them. He knows at least two of the man's kinks… and this isn't one of them.

"What are you doing?" he asks and the man stares at him as if the answer is obvious. _Which it isn't._

"I'm practising," he replies matter-of-factly. It's _not _a matter of fact, because Kakashi is in a _dress_. It's not something he's ever seen before, and he probably won't see it again. But the real question he should be asking is _why_, because Kakashi doesn't seem the type to wear wedding dresses. Or dresses at all, really.

"For what? Why are you wearing a dress?"

"Do I have to have a reason?"

"_Yes_. You're wearing a _dress_."

"It's not _just _a dress," Kakashi replies, offended. He picks up the hem of the skirt and lifts it up and moves his head slightly so his nose is in the air. "It's a _wedding _dress," he sniffs.

"Why can't you just wear a suit?" Naruto asks and steps into the church. He closes the large doors behind him, because he doesn't think anyone _else _needs to see this picture. Sure, Kakashi pulls off the dress – _wedding dress _– pretty well, but he's sure no one else would appreciate it. "We're both guys. We wear _suits_."

Kakashi lets go of the hem of his dress and turns to look at Naruto with a pout. "Mou, Naruto, I won't look pretty in a suit."

_Is this really why Kakashi is wearing a dress? He won't look _pretty_? He's a grown man, why is he even…? _"You'll look handsome and dashing in a suit," he tries, smiling hesitantly.

Kakashi sniffs. "But not pretty?"

"No, I'm afraid not," Naruto continues and stalks slowly towards the older man. He's pretty sure Kakashi is _insane_.

"Then…" Kakashi sighs and looks down forlornly at the dress he's wearing. "Then who's going to wear this dress?"

Naruto chokes. _Hopefully he doesn't mean me, does he? _"Hinata's wedding's coming up after ours…"

Kakashi shakes his head and stares at Naruto. "I bought this dress for _us_."

He's hallucinating. He knows this. Kakashi would _never _wear a dress, much less _buy _one. Maybe he's been going out on too many missions and this is the consequence. He likes how masculine Kakashi looks in a dress, but he's hallucinating and hallucinations shouldn't be encouraged. Even though he knows this, he can't stop himself from playing along.

"Maybe, if we have a daughter… we could give it to her?"

Kakashi shakes his head. "I look pretty in it, don't I?"

Naruto hesitates. "Yes…?"

"So why can't I just wear the damn dress?"

Naruto pinches the bridge of his nose. "You just can't, okay?"

Kakashi pouts again then sighs. "If I have to… can I at least have a dance, first?"

Naruto splutters. Dancing? With a _hallucination_? How would that even _work_? "I'm not sure that could work…"

"Nonsense," Kakashi says, glides towards Naruto in white heels (what the _hell_; the dress wasn't _enough _for the man?) and grabs Naruto's hand in his. Naruto freezes and he's sure hallucinations aren't supposed to feel so _real_. "Dancing will work."

"I… but… you're a hallucination… why… how can…?"

"Hallucination?" Kakashi tilts his head, puts his other arm around Naruto's waist and pulls him close. He shakes his head. "No, I'm not," he then leers, "but I can be, if you want me to."

_Yes, this is the _real _Kakashi_. So this _isn't _a hallucination.

"Fuck, so you are wearing a wedding dress," Naruto mutters and then Kakashi moves.

"Yes," Kakashi brightens. "I look pretty in it. So shut up and enjoy this dance before I have to take it off. The lengths I go…" he mutters.

He's not hallucinating, but maybe he could make the most of this.

"Is this a kink?" he whispers and Kakashi's eyebrow shoots up.

"What? No. I just thought I'd look pretty," the man replies.

_Ugh, he's insane._

* * *

**Schematic:** _Well. Um. That was enlightening? I'm sorry (but I'm really not sorry). This would be a Kakashi thing to do. Just to fuck with Naruto's brain. It's fun. _

**PROMPT ORDER****:**

**fortuna16**; _I Regret Everything  
_**mekaraugustine**; _Something Blue  
_**DREAMER1084**; _Forgotten  
_**Moonstone blaze**_; Safe Haven_


	14. I Regret Everything

**Disclaimer: **-stealthily moves around the house- Well, at least I'm – _holy fuck_! Where the hell'd you come from? Stay away… stay away… _I don't own Naruto_! –runs away screaming- _Where does everyone keep getting these ideas_?!

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or,  
if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing,  
give me a word (for example: humpback whales)**)**

**THE PROMPT ORDER IS LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!**

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

**Schematic: **_If you like anything Kakashi oriented, you should check out "lostontheroadoflife"s tumblr page._

**SPECIAL THANKS TO: My friend, for giving me ideas for the story, because I'm not good with challenges.**

* * *

**Schematic  
Prompt by: fortuna16 (lostontheroadoflife – tumblr)  
**_Naruto unwillingly becomes a part of Kakashi and Gai's challenges  
_**I Regret Everything  
**_Naruto regrets ever becoming involved with Kakashi…  
and Gai by extension _

"What are you doing?" Naruto asks slowly, because he's sure saying anything else will make him sound like an idiot. Kakashi looks up from arm-wrestling Gai, and they both look like they're putting enormous pressure on their muscles to win, but only Gai looks like he's having trouble. His face is turning red and veins are protruding out of his skin. Kakashi, however, looks like his usual lazy self.

Kakashi gives him a flat looks. "What does it look like we're doing?"

"But why can't you go _run laps_? You usually do those," he says, but Gai answers instead.

"It's Kakashi's turn to think of a challenge," Gai informs him, and that makes sense. Of _course _Kakashi would choose a challenge where he doesn't have to go anywhere or do anything else except laze and read his perverted book.

And yes, in Kakashi's other hand – the one he wasn't wrestling with – was the second volume of Icha Icha Paradise. Kakashi smiles at him gently and then goes back to reading, his hand occasionally flexing.

Naruto decides, then and there, to avoid their apartment during the day. He quickly turns around.

"Where are you going?" Kakashi asks him loudly as he walks towards the door. "You just got here!"

"There's something I have to do," he lies, and leaves.

* * *

Kakashi is lounging next to him, one of his arms thrown around Naruto's neck and the other holding his hand gently. He's nuzzling Naruto's neck, and Naruto's suspicious. This only happens when the other man wants something. So he's sure the man wants something.

"What do you want?" he asks suspiciously.

"Would you be able to help me with a challenge tomorrow?" he asks. Naruto recoils, untangles his hand out of Kakashi's hold, leans out of his embrace and scoots away.

"No."

The other man pouts. "Pleaaaase?" he pouts and scoots closer to Naruto. Naruto's having none of it, though. He doesn't want to be in _any _challenge with the two crazy old men.

"No. Don't ask again."

* * *

"Kakashi, what're you doing?" he mumbles into the other man's neck. He's just woken up and he's confused; he's not in bed, and he's usually not buried in the other man's neck. Something is amiss. His legs are held forcefully around Kakashi's midsection with rope and his arms are holding onto Kakashi's neck of their own violation. He looks next to him and his eyes widen. Gai is climbing with a rattled looking Neji on his back.

_Poor, poor Neji, he has to deal with this all the time… wait… _Something is _definitely _amiss. It looks _exactly _as if they're scaling the Hokage Mountain.

"What are you doing," Naruto repeats slowly. "Didn't I say…"

"You said not to _ask_," the other man points out and grabs a handful of rock, pulling himself up. "I didn't ask. I just borrowed you."

Naruto sighs. "It's not so bad," he nuzzles Kakashi's neck and the other man twitches, nearly dislodging himself. "What are you doing, then?"

Kakashi quickly shoots him a glare. "Don't do that," he grumbles, "do it later. Not _now_. And what does it look like we're doing?"

He's learnt not to ask questions he doesn't want the answer to, and it looks pretty straight-forward with what Gai and Kakashi are doing, but… well, he's not sure Neji and he are needed for this challenge. Couldn't they just do this on their own?

"Why are we strapped to your backs?"

"For weight," Kakashi replies matter-of-factly, and it's obvious he's rolling his eyes at him. It's in his voice.

* * *

Naruto runs through the village, trying to find Sakura. He knows she's usually at the hospital, but she's not there today. Apparently it's her 'off-day'. He rolls his eyes. She doesn't _have _an off day.

He accidentally runs into someone, and he falls on his ass. A groan answers him and Naruto opens his eyes to look at the person he's accidentally run into. His sorry dies on his lips when he sees an angry eye staring at him, with egg white and yolk running through his hair.

"Naruto…" he growls. The spoon the egg had probably been held in is still held in the man's hand, and he yields it threateningly at Naruto.

"Sorry!" he squeaks. "I'm really sorry Kakashi!"

"I lost because of you!" the man scowls and jumps on him, rubbing his head all over Naruto's face and hair. He throws the useless spoon away.

"Kakashi!" he whines. "I don't want egg in my hair!"

"It's your fault anyway, so this is just payback!"

"Ahahaha!" Gai laughs triumphantly behind them. "You were not so grateful, Kakashi! I win with my flames of youth burning brightly!"

Kakashi turns back to glare at Naruto, leans down again and rubs his hair on Naruto. "See what you've done."

He can certainly _feel _what he's done. And Kakashi, conveniently, is someone he's _also _done… but that's irrelevant.

"You shouldn't litter, Kakashi!" Gai yells at him and picks up the spoon Kakashi had ungracefully discarded.

* * *

"Psst, Naruto," Kakashi whispers and Naruto whips his head around to stare at Kakashi, who has a bowl of ramen on his head. It's odd, but he doesn't question it… much. Because he's seen the kind of challenges Gai's been coming up with lately, and this doesn't seem that far off from what the challenges usually are… so he doesn't question it. He does, however, question Kakashi's sanity.

"What?"

"Want some free ramen?"

Naruto hesitates. "I don't know if it's edible though."

"It's from Ichiraku Ramen."

"But it's for your challenge."

"It's too heavy," Kakashi whines. "Eat it."

"Kakashi…"

"Eat it," the man repeats and kneels down. "Don't take it off, otherwise it'll summon Gai and he'll know I cheated."

"He's going to know you cheated anyway."

"But this makes sure I win _before _he realises."

Naruto sighs. "Do you have a…" a fork is immediately placed in his hand and he stares at Kakashi suspiciously. "You planned this, didn't you?"

"Maybe."

Naruto sighs and digs in. It's free ramen, so he shouldn't feel guilty. Not at all. Except he does. He's helping Kakashi cheat, and cheating is not something Naruto stands for.

But the ramen is from _Ichiraku Ramen…_

* * *

"What are you even doing _now_," Naruto says incredulously. Kakashi's dignity is gone. As well as his sanity, because, well. For him to actually _accept _this kind of challenge? And going _through _with it? "That's not even… that's disgusting. What if you accidentally _bite _the egg?"

Kakashi glares at him from the ground. "'ehn I 'on." He mumbles around the egg. _Translation: Then I won't._

Kakashi's legs and arms are strapped together and he looks so… helpless. So, it's not surprising when Naruto casually grabs Kakashi bridal style and walks towards their apartment.

"You keep making me cheat for you," Naruto mutters.

"Ere 'u' 'oo o oo eye," Kakashi replies, and Naruto struggles with translating it, but when Kakashi inclines his head to the right, he knows. He has to take Kakashi to Gai's to win. Hopefully he can leave before the other notices. _Translation: We're supposed to go to Gai's._

"How are you going to get out of that? How did you _get _like that?"

Kakashi just sends him a look as if telling him not to ask.

He's curious but he won't ask. It's probably better that way anyway.

* * *

"_Why is it always eggs_?!" Kakashi yells, and Naruto runs into the bedroom, where Kakashi's sitting on an egg on the bed. He slowly leaves the room and closes the door.

"Are… are you trying to hatch the egg?" Naruto asks hesitantly.

"No," Kakashi replies. "I can't break it. That's the challenge. Not to break it."

Naruto slowly backs away and leaves. He can't deal with all the damn eggs anymore.

* * *

Naruto walks past team seven's training grounds and stops. Gai is on his arms and legs, with his body upwards. It looks exactly like a backwards push up. Balanced on his stomach is two cups of water, and he's not even sure what it is he's looking at. Kakashi is doing the same thing. He slowly backs away, but he bumps into someone.

"NARUTO!" Lee yells right into the blonde's ear and his ears start to ring. "FANCY SEEING YOU HERE!"

_Thanks Lee for breaking my cover_, he mourns.

Gai's head whips around and stares at them and then his face brightens as if he's come up with the best idea to ever exist. "Naruto! Lee! Come! Stand on our stomachs holding these cups of water! Let's see how long we can hold them up for! And if I lose, I shall run around ballerina style!"

"No," Naruto immediately replies, but Lee has other ideas. He grabs Naruto's arm and bodily moves him towards Kakashi. He picks up the cups from Kakashi's stomach, gives them to Naruto, picks up Naruto and places him on Kakashi's stomach and goes to do the same with himself to Gai. Naruto looks down at Kakashi's face. "I'm sorry about this."

"It's not your fault," Kakashi mutters. "It's a good thing you don't weigh much, otherwise I'd break my back."

"Old man," Naruto mutters.

"Don't make me whack you," Kakashi threatens. "I'm up for it."

"Kinky," Naruto deadpans.

* * *

"Ow, that's got to hurt," Naruto mutters, watching as Kakashi does a split. He crosses his legs in sympathy and watches as Gai's face pales. He scrunches his nose and turns away. The challenge thing is getting a little out of hand.

"Naruto!" Kakashi yells, and Naruto freezes. _He's been spotted._ "Help me up."

"You got yourself in this mess," Naruto sniffs. "You help yourself up."

Kakashi pouts. "Mou, Naruto, you're so meaaan."

Naruto shrugs and walks away. "I am."

"NARUTO!"

* * *

"I need your help," Kakashi whispers, leaning close to Naruto's ear. Naruto sighs and looks up into Kakashi's uncovered eye.

"What do you need help with?"

"Gai has challenged me to the best Sasuke impression."

Naruto chokes and laughs. "You – Sasuke impression – ha!"

Kakashi stares blandly at him. "Are you going to help me or not?"

Naruto sighs. "Look, it's easy," he henges into Sasuke and Kakashi jumps back, startled. "You just make a constipated face," he scrunches up his face and scowls, "and this is the best Sasuke impression you could possibly do."

Kakashi scratches his chin thoughtfully. "What if I can't make that face?"

Naruto stares at Kakashi deadpan. It looks exactly like Sasuke's deadpan expression, and Naruto's sure doing anything in Sasuke's henge would look like a good impression, either way. "If you can't make that face, just think about Gai naked. That does the trick."

Kakashi grimaces, turns around and braces himself on the table next to him. "I think it's done the trick. As well as scarring me. I don't think I can look at Gai the same ever again."

Naruto chuckles.

* * *

"Naruto, I have a – what are you doing?" Kakashi asks slowly.

Naruto's lying on his back on the bed, with no clothes on. He looks up at Kakashi's entrance, but doesn't bother with looking for clothes. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Lying in – but, no, really, why are you naked? I need you to help me with Gai's challenge –"

"Kakashi," Naruto says, slowly. "I'm naked."

"I see that," Kakashi replies, rolling his eyes. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Naruto stares at him, horrified. "Kakashi… you… get over here."

The man has a curious look on his face, so he complies and makes his way towards Naruto. He's pulled into bed and Naruto gently pushes Kakashi onto his back, straddles him, pulls down the man's mask and kisses him. "Kakashi, I think you should just… forget about the challenge for a second."

"Or a few hours," Kakashi leers and switches their positions. Naruto responds by smiling and kissing the man's neck.

_No more damn challenges today, _Naruto thinks irately.

* * *

**Schematic: **_So, before I wrote the actual one, I wrote this one. _This _was what "I Regret Everything" was supposed to be._

* * *

**Technically an Outtake**

Naruto stares flatly at Kakashi, who sheepishly rubs the back of his neck. He doesn't want to deal with this. He _really _doesn't want to deal with this. Kakashi, he can handle. Gai, he can handle. Both of them, he can handle. But being pulled into a _challenge _with _both _of themis one of the things he _can't_ handle. He tells this to Kakashi every time the silver-haired man asks, the man then replies with _I understand _and _I won't ask again_. But.

_Why does he keep asking_?! The bastard _knows _he'll keep saying no, so why does he _keep asking_?! He has no choice but to _ask _the silly older man, because otherwise, he's going to _agonise over it_ and he doesn't want to spend any _more _time thinking of those damn challenges_ than he already is_. _Stupid old men._

"Why. Do. You. Keep. _Asking_?!" he yells and pokes Kakashi's chest every time he says a word. The man looks down at the finger, then up at him, and then he pouts.

"Mou, Naruto, don't poke so hard," he whines, but then his pout clears up and he leers at him, "unless, of course, you want to use those fingers for _something else_." Naruto just continues to stand there with a flat look, so the man slumps. "Gai would like to… get to know you better…" he says slowly and pauses, tilting his head.

"But _why_?" Naruto asks. He's pretty sure he should at least know _why _he's always being dragged to these things. He's also sure Kakashi doesn't like being roped into the damn things _either_.

Kakashi shuffles his feet slightly – not enough for anyone else to notice, but Naruto _does_, because he's spent too much time with the Copy-Nin and has basically _memorised _every movement Kakashi can possibly make. The man is embarrassed _and _he's nervous. Both of the things that Naruto _definitely _does _not _want to see at this point.

"Because… of… well, you don't need to know," Kakashi says slowly and perhaps _this _is why the man's nervous. He's avoiding the question. He doesn't want to tell Naruto what the _real _problem is, because it's either supposed to be a surprise or it's something Naruto will probably hate. He's betting right now it's probably both.

Naruto rolls his eyes. "I think I have the right to know why Gai wants to know me better."

"I don't think I should tell you," Kakashi mutters and takes a step back. "Look, I keep coming here to ask if you'd like to partake in the challenges because I have to try. At least for Gai."

Naruto sighs. "I might agree _if_ you tell me what the challenge is this time."

Kakashi hesitates. "Maybe you should sit this one out…"

"_Kakashi_…"

"I mean, _really _sit this one out."

Naruto stares flatly at Kakashi. "Look, just tell me."

"I can't… exactly… _tell _you," he replies.

Naruto sighs explosively. "Fine, then how about you just _show me_?!"

Kakashi brightens and then grabs Naruto and throws him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Or a dead body. They were basically the same weight anyway. "I'm going to win!" he crows and Naruto immediately regrets asking Kakashi _anything _about the stupid challenge.

Kakashi's racing somewhere, and all Naruto can see is people flying past as Kakashi jumps over rooftops.

"Where are we going?" he asks loudly. He's going to _regret _this, he knows.

"You'll see," Kakashi replies loudly so Naruto can hear. Kakashi's response doesn't exactly fill him with confidence.

When Kakashi stops in front of the hot springs, Naruto regrets ever asking anything. "What… what are we here for?" He's let down and shoves in the bushes, where Kakashi sets on undressing him. He splutters incoherently. "What are you _doing_?!"

"Sh!" the man hisses, and once Naruto is naked, he brightens. "I'm going to win and Gai won't _bother me again_!"

"Ka-Kakashi – what are you doing – Kakashi –"

He's being thrown over into the hot springs, and screams assault his ears. He lands in the water and when he lifts his head, he's bombarded with angry glares.

The angry glares of women. He swallows. "Fuck."

"_PERVERT_!"

As he's being beaten into the ground, he hears the conversation between Gai and Kakashi and he's _not happy_. He'll get them back for this. He swears it.

* * *

"I win!" Kakashi yells, and Gai gapes.

"But… how…"

"The challenge was to _embarrass _someone or to _prank _them, and the winner is the one who does it _first _or _spectacularly_! I win! You lose!"

"My eternal rival!" Gai yells and flings himself at his self-proclaimed rival. "Since I did not win, I shall climb the Hokage Mountain using only my thumbs!"

"What about the rest of your body…?" Kakashi mutters, but apparently the man has super-sonic hearing, because he hears Kakashi's words only meant for himself. _Curse his big mouth._ (His mouth wasn't used for this, mostly – it was used for something else, he leers inwardly and maybe having a big mouth isn't _so bad_…)

"Then I shall tie boulders to my feet!" Gai yells and then kisses Kakashi's cheek. "I shall do this now with my flames of youth!" he then runs off leaving behind a horrified Kakashi.

"I was just… but…" he touches the cheek the other man had just kissed and recoils in disgust.

"_KAKASHI_!" a voice Kakashi knows all too well yells and he pales. Yeah, he's _not _going to stay around to let Naruto catch up to him. He can be an evil little shit when he wants to be.

He does the only thing befitting this situation.

He runs.

* * *

**PROMPT ORDER****:**

**mekaraugustine**; _Something Blue  
_**DREAMER1084**; _Forgotten  
_**Moonstone blaze**; _Safe Haven_


	15. Something Blue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, you plebeians!

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or,  
if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing,  
give me a word (for example: fleas)**)**

**THE PROMPT ORDER IS LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!**

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

**Schematic: **_No more updating tonight after this one. I've been popping out so much today, sorry._

* * *

**Schematic  
Prompt by: mekaraugustine (tumblr)  
**_A simple KakaNaru wedding fic  
_**Something Blue  
**_It's Naruto and Kakashi's big day… and something has to go wrong, doesn't it?_

Naruto stands on the grass, tapping his foot impatiently. Everyone he – and Kakashi – knows is sitting down, waiting for the wedding ceremony to start, but he's impatient. He's sure the guests are impatient too, because Kakashi _is late_. For his own _fucking wedding_. It's been three hours since Kakashi was _supposed _to arrive, and yet he still hasn't. He's still late.

"Sorry I'm late," Kakashi says, on the other end of the lawn, holding _purple fucking flowers._ The flowers aren't supposed to be _purple_; they're supposed to be _orange or white or silver or any other fucking colour except for purple_. Purple wasn't an option. It was never an option. "But I got lost on the road of life."

Naruto glares at him, and he's pretty sure everyone else sitting there is glaring at him too. The man sheepishly rubs the back of his neck, offering a slight smile beneath his mask. Naruto casually looks around the seated guests and notices Iruka, who is stroking his kunai menacingly with a dirty glare at his soon-to-be husband. He resists the urge to hit Iruka _and _Kakashi and he refrains – _barely_.

Kakashi slowly makes his way towards them, the priest standing before them with an open book. "Dearly beloved," he begins and Naruto is already sick of the ceremony. He doesn't want to be here. "We are gathered here today –"

He's interrupted by Akamaru bounding towards them. Naruto and Kakashi instantly tense and Kiba yells out a "no!" but it's too late; Akamaru jumps and lands in the wedding cake behind them, splattering everyone. Naruto sighs and looks over to Iruka, who is twitching in his seat and a vein throbbing in his forehead.

"Akamaru!" Kiba yells. "Bad dog!"

The dog whines, but rolls around in the cake. Naruto closes his eyes and tosses a glare at Kakashi.

"Did you come across a black cat?" he angrily whispers and watches as the man pales. "You did, didn't you?"

"I couldn't avoid it," Kakashi frantically whispers back.

Naruto sighs. "I'm covered in cake. On our day."

Kakashi winces. "Let's just… get this over with, then?"

The priest clears his throat. "Dearly beloved," he repeats and Naruto sighs inaudibly. _Here we go again. _"We are gathered here today –"

"NARUTO-KUN!" Lee yells, and Naruto watches, horrified, as a naked Lee streaks passed, his hand waving at him jauntily. "CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR WEDDING!" Kakashi slowly turns towards Gai and glares at the man, who shrinks back in his seat.

"Dearly beloved," the priest begins again, and Naruto's pretty sure these words are cursed. They have to be, because he can't think of anything else that can cause this. "We are gathered here today –"

And then it starts raining. Naruto throws his hands up. "Great," he mutters, "great!"

"Now, Naruto…" Kakashi tries and steps towards him. Naruto whirls around and glares at him.

"Don't you start," Naruto threatens. "You started it!"

"I didn't know there'd be a black cat!"

"You were _late_!"

Iruka clears his throat and they turn towards the man who is slowly but surely being drenched by water. "You can still have a wedding."

Naruto stares at him and then raises an eyebrow. "Fine," he replies, "fine. It's raining, our suits are ruined…" he then starts to take off his clothes. Once he's done, he throws his suit over his shoulder and it lands in the mud. He stands only in his boxer shorts, with folded arms. "Marry us now."

"You're not properly –" the priest splutters, but Naruto sends a glare at him.

"You will marry us now," he growls and the priest immediately complies.

* * *

Kakashi leans down and kisses Naruto's temple. "I love you."

"I hate you," Naruto replies, grumbling. He snuggles into Kakashi's side, however, rubbing his nose against the other man's collarbone.

Kakashi chuckles weakly. "I'm really sorry about that. I didn't think…"

"That's right. You _didn't _think. And everyone says _I'm _the idiot. You were late to your _wedding_."

"I love you, though," Kakashi mutters. "I'm sorry I was late. I was telling Obito about how we were getting married today and I lost track of time."

Naruto sighs. "I forgive you then," he murmurs.

"I don't think Iruka's ever going to forgive me though," Kakashi mutters. "He's already tried to kill me. I'm sure if I wasn't a Jounin I'd be maimed… or dead…"

"You _did _ruin his sort-of son's wedding," Naruto mutters.

Kakashi hums. "Why don't we have another wedding? This time, we can have everything that's _perfect_."

Naruto grins into Kakashi's side, but shakes his head fondly. "No, it's okay. Even though it was the shittiest wedding I've ever been to, it's _my _shitty wedding. I'm going to make all of our future children want to have an even _shittier _wedding than mine. See if they can make it even _worse_."

Kakashi winces. "That's a pretty high bar to start off with…"

Naruto shrugs. "If they're anything like me, they'll succeed. After all, I wanted to be Hokage, and that was a high bar to strive for. And look where I am now."

Kakashi grins and kisses Naruto's temple again. "I love you," he repeats.

"I love you too," Naruto finally says, leans up and kisses Kakashi's cheek.

Even though his wedding was the shittiest thing that could ever happen to him, he won't trade it for anything, because those moments will be etched into his memories forever. Plus he wants to keep the memory of Kakashi being chased around by Iruka with a kunai in his head for the rest of his life.

"I just have to kill that fucking black cat," Naruto mutters, scowling and Kakashi chuckles nervously.

Because Naruto _will _find that damn cat and kill it.

It'll be his luck, though, if the thing just comes back to life.

* * *

**PROMPT ORDER****:**

**DREAMER1084**; _Forgotten  
_**Moonstone blaze**_; Safe Haven_


	16. Forgotten

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. It's a thing not to own Naruto, isn't it? Well, this is my thing. I don't own Naruto.

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or, if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing, give me a word (for example: fan girls)**)**

**THE PROMPT ORDER IS LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!**

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

* * *

**Schematic  
Prompt by: DREAMER1084  
****(**_To see the full prompt, scroll to the bottom_!**)  
Forgotten  
**_Kakashi and Naruto are parents… sort of._

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Sai asks, cocking his head to the side as he watches the blonde do a handstand. It's not the handstand he's currently questioning. Of course not. It's the fact that he's trying to use a Jutsu whilst doing a handstand that he's questioning. Because he's sure this isn't going to end well for Naruto. Or anyone at all, really. "You dickless idiot."

He's read somewhere that nicknames are given to people someone cares about, so this name is what he's chosen for Naruto. It states a fact, and it's "endearing". Calling him an idiot in the next breath means that he's softening the blow by using Naruto's endearing nickname. Because really, what Naruto's doing at the moment is incredibly _idiotic_; it could hurt someone around him _and _it can hurt himself.

So when Naruto falls flat on his face, he's proven right.

"_SAI_!" Naruto shrieks once he gets off the ground. He points at Sai with an angry glare. "You ruined my _concentration_!"

"What concentration?" he asks. He's never actually _seen _the blonde concentrate (when it counts – getting ramen and eating it certainly _does not _count) so it's a fair question. Apparently it's not, because he has to dodge a punch aimed for his face.

"Stop being such a prick!"

Prick… prick… Sai scratches his chin and watches Naruto fume. He's heard that word before – well, he's _read _that word before – but he can't remember what it means. There are at least three meanings to prick, but in this context… he gasps and makes a fist with his right hand, and he hits his left hand that's flat. "Ah!" he says, finally getting the meaning. "You called me a penis!"

Naruto abruptly turns red and splutters. "No I _didn't_! I called you an asshole!"

Sai shakes his head. "You called me a penis, I heard you clearly. 'Prick' is another word for 'penis'."

There's a gasp, and they both turn to see Sakura standing there with her hand over her mouth. There's a horrified look on her face, and then it turns into a fierce glare that's soon fixed on Naruto, who swallows nervously.

"WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO TEACH HIM, NARUTO?!" she shrieks. She moves closer to them and raises her fists, and Sai thinks he should step in; otherwise Naruto's going to earn a beating he doesn't deserve.

"He hasn't been teaching me anything," Sai says matter-of-factly, quickly intercepting Sakura. He smiles at her. It feels uncomfortable on his face, and he wonders if it's because it's forced, he doesn't mean it, or because he's not used to the act of smiling. "I learnt this from a book."

"What kind of book?" Sakura asks suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at him. He feels Naruto slowly backing away, and he's confused. However, he just continues to smile through the confusion.

"Icha Icha Paradise," Sai says, and apparently that's not what he's supposed to say. Sakura's fists start to glow from the use of chakra, and he starts to back away pretty fast – because, you know, he _likes _to be alive, thank you very much. Hopefully when she cools off, she'll tell him why he's so angry at him this time. And by this time, he's talking about the previous time when he gave her a nickname. He still has no idea why she's angry whenever she hears it. Her nickname suits her personality fairly well.

"_Pervert_!" she screeches at him.

"He probably doesn't even know what any of it _means_!" Naruto yells at her from behind Sai, and that's a blatant lie. Of _course _Sai knows what it all means. He's read about sex before; he's not _ignorant_. He doesn't say anything out loud, however. He's been in team seven for a while – enough to know _when _and _when_ _not _to speak. He's gotten better at it, but sometimes he fails spectacularly. This is not one of those times.

"Admittedly, none of it makes sense," Sai replies, "but that's because all of the sexual positions are not possible _at all_. I wonder why Kakashi-sensei likes the series so much, when most of what's written is lies."

Apparently it _is_ one of those times, though, when he sees both Kakashi-sensei and Sakura come at him at full speed. Naruto, he sees from the corner of his eye, backs away with his hands raised, as if that would shield him. But they're not going for Naruto. They're running right at _Sai_.

Kakashi-sensei and Sakura activate their Jutsu's at exactly the same time, making it hard for him to hear what they're saying. Their words blur together and create one word that doesn't make any sense to him. He dodges out of their way and tries to think of a counter measure. He's too slow, and he's hit with both of the Jutsu's combined. He falls backwards and, as he does so, he watches as his vision starts to darken at the corners. _So this is what going unconscious feels like, _he thinks dazedly.

The last thing he sees before blackness consumes his vision is Kakashi's and Sakura's concerned faces. It's a nice combination of colour; silver and pink.

* * *

"Sai," a voice whispers, and he opens his eyes and is immediately bombarded by bright, blue eyes set in a tanned face that's filled with worry. He slowly sits up and looks up the man, completely confused about what's going on. "Sai? Kakashi and Sakura didn't mean to do that, I promise. They weren't thinking. You just… set them off by saying the wrong things."

That makes sense, in away. Except he has no idea what he's_ said_, neither does he know who he's said them _to_. The man sends a glare off to the side, but Sai doesn't take his eyes off of the man to look. He's too enraptured by the blonde before him to look away.

His mouth is dry. Who is this person? Why are they calling him _Sai_? Is it because it's his name? Is _that _what he's called? He doesn't_ feel_ like a Sai. He feels more like a Kisho*. Perhaps they'd got his name wrong? He takes in the gentle eyes and the whisker marks, as well as the way the man's holding himself, and he blurts out the only words that come to mind. "I feel more like a Kisho," he informs him and then adds, "Tou-san."

The blonde's eyes widen and laughter assaults his ears. Perhaps whoever's laughing is in disbelief, because of how _different _he and his father look. He doesn't look like his father's son, he admits. He doesn't have tan skin, nor does he have blonde hair. But that's not because the blonde is his father. No, the reason the blonde is his father is because of how _gentle _and _accepting_ he seems to be. He's explained what he's done wrong in a calm voice, which means the man holds some kind of love for him. Which means this man in front of him is his _father_.

And if this man is his father, it means his mother is close by.

He looks towards the noise, trying to see if his mother's around, and sees a girl with pink hair and a man with silver hair standing with their arms crossed. The pink haired girl is, obviously, not his mother (because she's _laughing_!) and so he turns his attention to the silver haired man. As soon as he lays eyes on the man, he _knows_. The man has gentle eyes just like his father, which means this man? This man must be his _mother_.

"Look, Sai, that isn't your dad," the pink-haired girl laughs, and Sai scowls at her. He hadn't _asked _for her opinion. Not at all. How dare she say that his father isn't his father? How would _she _know who his father is?

"He is my father," he replies and then adds as if as an after-thought, "ugly." He turns his attention to the silver-haired man, ignoring the enraged KI the girl is emitting. 'Ugly' is a fitting name for her; she certainly has the personality to back up the name. "Kaa-san, why aren't you over here with Tou-san?"

The silver-haired man rubs the back of his neck. "Maa, my name's Kakashi. Good try though." The man coughs and shakes his head. "That's, ah, that's not your father, either. And I'm not your mother."

"Do you think we should go show Tsunade-baa-san?" the blonde asks in a gravelly voice. Sai has no idea who this _Tsunade-baa-san_ is, but he assumes it's not a good person to see, not from the look his father has on his face. He quickly grabs the blonde's hand and looks up at the blonde. "Do you want to go meet Tsunade-baa-san?"

Sai shakes his head. "No." He _definitely _does not want to see her now, now that he's seen the look on the pink-haired girl's face. She looks almost _gleeful_, and anything she finds glee in cannot be good for Sai. _I really feel more like a Kisho_.

"But you have to," the pink-haired girl points out, and Sai turns and gives her a stern glare. He doesn't want to meet her. He looks up at his father with a pout and wide eyes.

"Do we have to?" He's not whining. He's _not_. He's just showing his displeasure, is all.

"Yes," the blonde replies matter-of-factly. "My name's Naruto, by the way. Not Tou-san."

Sai shakes his head. "You're Tou-san," he says and points in the direction of his mother, "and that's Kaa-san."

Tou-san snorts and picks him up, settling him on his shoulders.

As they walk, Sai sends a glare down at the pink haired girl. He doesn't want her anywhere _near_ his family. He'll have to find a way to get her to leave, because he wasn't going to put up with her presence anymore. He doesn't want her to steal any of them.

They're _his_.

* * *

"Well, whatever you two did, it'll wear off," Tsunade-baa-san says, peering down at him. She'd done a total of ten tests in the span of two hours, poking and prodding and hurting him. The only salvation he has is that his parents were there with him. He clings to his father's waist and buries his head in his father's chest. Tsunade-baa-san turns to Kaa-san and Sakura with her eyes narrowed. "What were you two _thinking_?!"

Sakura splutters and points at his mother with a look of rage on her face. "I didn't know Kakashi-sensei was going to appear out of nowhere!"

"I didn't think my Jutsu would interfere with Sakura's," Kaa-san replies matter-of-factly, and Sai smiles to himself. He looks up at Tou-san, who is holding him protectively in his arms. His mother's incredibly intelligent, it seems, but right now, he doesn't care for that. He wants _food_.

"Tou-san, I'm hungry."

"Ah, I'm sorry Sai," his father says sheepishly and picks him up as he stands. _I really need to convince Tou-san to call me Kisho. Sai doesn't seem right. _The blonde looks helplessly over at the pink-haired girl, his eyes wide. "Sakura, I don't know how to look after kids!"

_Ask Kaa-san, not her_! Why isn't his father asking his mother? His mother looks as if she knows how to look after him! That's what mothers do! _Sakura_ (if that was even her _name_) doesn't look at all like a mother-figure, neither does she look like she knows how to look after children.

"What about Konohamaru?" Sakura asks, scowling. "He was always running around after you. I don't know how to look after children, either!"

He's proven right.

"That's different!" Tou-san replies. "I didn't have to look after him _all _day, _every _day!"

"I can look after children," Kaa-san points out. "You're children. Plus, Minato-sensei used to _force_ us to babysit children."

Sai nods his head in satisfaction. Of _course_ his Kaa-san would know how to look after children. It's a thing mother's do; they're all equipped to do this. He was right that his mother was motherly.

"Then you take him," Tou-san says, and hands Sai over to Kaa-san, who looks down at Sai bewildered. "I've got better things to do than look after kids. I can't even look after kids, so…" Sai looks up at Kaa-san and his eyes water. His father was leaving him _so soon_?!

"Maa, Naruto…" Kaa-san says, holding Sai awkwardly, "I don't think Sai wants you to go."

Tou-san waves his hand at him and then at Sakura. "Sai called you Kaa-san, right? Sakura can be the mother now and you can be the father. I don't need to be here for this."

"Kaa-san isn't ugly like Sakura is," Sai sniffles, giving a dirty glare to Sakura. The girl glares back and raises her fist, where chakra is being summoned. He doesn't care about her, though; he's in the arms of his mother, which means he'll be kept safe. "You're Tou-san. You can't leave Kaa-san!"

Tsunade-baa-san's amused snort reaches his ears and they all turn towards her. He looks towards her too, curious about what she finds so amusing. She has a smirk on her face. "Naruto, Kakashi, you should live together to look after him while he's like this. It seems he's become… _attached _to you two."

Sai still has no idea what she means by _like this_ but, maybe, his parents will tell him later. He doesn't even know what the two Jutsu's had apparently _done _to him either. He has no physical reminders of what's happened, so it's either something mental or he just can't see it.

* * *

"Maa, Naruto," Kaa-san says blandly, his eyes riveted to Naruto. The blonde has successfully eaten three bowls of ramen already, and Sai is frozen to the spot, his eyes wide. He's never _seen _something like this before. Sure, he's seen people eat _fast_, but never this _messy_. Of course, his father hasn't actually spilt anything, it was just the way the man was… _eating _it. As he's watching, it's as if his father's never been taught how to hold chopsticks before, because he's using them very awkwardly. "Don't teach Sai bad habits."

"'m not," his father mumbles around his full mouth. Sai turns towards his mother with wide eyes.

"It's okay Kaa-san," he says, smiling widely. "I don't have bad habits like Tou-san."

"Aa, that's good," his mother replies and ruffles his hair. The man looks down at his bowl as if he's just realised he hasn't touched it yet and then looks past Sai's shoulder. "Ah! Sai, what's that?!" Sai whips his head around to stare over his shoulder and sees nothing. Disappointed, he turns back to see his mother's bowl empty. He stares at the spot with wide eyes.

"Where did it _go_?!"

"I ate it," his mother says matter-of-factly.

"He does this all the time," his father grumbles, and Sai turns back to his father, who has a stack of _six empty bowls_. He gapes. "He won't let anyone see under his mask, so he uses a tactic every time."

"And it always works."

"Do you do this all the time, too?" he asks his father, staring at the empty bowls of ramen.

His father grins at him. "Of course!" he says, as if it's obvious. "Except I usually eat more; I'm holding back because I don't have much money today."

* * *

Sai yawns and rubs his eyes. He's tired, after all that's happened today. After they had ramen for lunch, they went to the park to play. As soon as it got dark, they'd gone home to have dinner, watch a few movies and have a bath. All Sai wants to do right now, after being having a nice warm shower, is curl up in bed with his parents and go to sleep.

Except, what Sai wants, is not happening. His father has taken the lounge to sleep on and his mother has taken the bed to sleep in. He pouts and stares at his mother, who's lying in bed reading a book.

"Ah, Sai, do you want to sleep with me tonight?" his mother asks. He's smiling with both of his eyes, and Sai finds it weird that his mother has eyes that don't match. One's red and one's onyx, and he hasn't – yet – gathered up the courage to ask about his eyes yet.

"Yes," Sai replies softly and takes a step into the room. He climbs up onto the bed, crawls to the middle and snuggles into his mother's side. "But I want Tou-san in here too."

His mother chuckles. "Aa, it'd become too cramped if he came into the bed now, Sai."

Sai shakes his head. "No. It won't be too cramped. I'm small."

His mother hesitates. "I don't think he's awake."

"Then I'll wake him up."

Kaa-san pinches the bridge of his nose. "You can't do that, Sai. It's inconsiderate."

"You do the same thing," a voice mutters from the doorway and they both turn to his father, who's leaning against the doorframe. He looks incredibly tired and in one hand is his pillow. His eyes are drooping and his voice has become huskier. "I remember that one time you threw water at me to wake me up."

"That was because you were late for training," his mother points out.

"You're three hours late usually," his father intones. "It's not my fault that the one day you were _on time_, I decided to sleep in instead."

Since his father's awake, it means he can sleep in the bed. He turns towards his mother and gives him a pout. The silver-haired man's face is impassive, and his eyes look as if they're bored. "I'm not going to fall for that, Sai."

"Can Tou-san sleep in here, please?"

"I can go sleep in my own house," his father points out, and Sai's face scrunches up. He turns to his father and looks at his father with a horrified look.

"_You don't sleep with Kaa-san_?!" he shrieks. It's loud enough that the neighbours can hear him, but he doesn't care. His father won't sleep in his mother's _bed_, and that's not how it works. He knows mums and dads are supposed to sleep in the same bed, not separate _or _live in separate houses. _It isn't right_!

"Ka-," his father clears his throat. His eyes are shifting around the room, instead of looking Sai or his mother straight in the eye. "Kaa-san likes it better when I don't sleep with him."

"But I want you to sleep in here, with _me_," Sai says.

His mother makes a thoughtful hum and they turn towards him. "What if _I _left?" the silver-haired man asks and Sai frantically shakes his head.

"No! I want to sleep with _both _of you!"

His father yawns and rubs at his eye with the hand that's not holding his pillow. He looks drained, and his whole body is leaning heavily on the doorframe. Even his blonde hair looks severely exhausted, with the way it's flopping down instead of spiking up.

"Make up your minds," his father mutters. "I'm tired. I want to sleep. I don't care _where _I sleep."

His mother eventually sighs. "Fine," he mutters, and his father immediately makes his way towards the bed. He crawls onto the bed, puts his pillow under his head, turns towards Sai and wraps his arms around him and closes his eyes. He looks as if he's asleep already and that brings a happy smile to Sai's face. "Just don't drool on my bed."

"Yeah yeah," his father mumbles. The next noise that comes out of his mouth is a snore, and Sai looks up at his mother, who's shaking his head fondly.

"I'll have to go to sleep too," he says. He sighs and puts the book on his bedside table and turns off the lamplight. He turns his back towards Sai and his father, and Sai pouts. He doesn't let that get to him, because he already has someone holding him against their chest, but maybe on another day, he could make them _both _hold him. He'll just have to wait.

* * *

"We won't be able to go on any missions," his father grumbles in the morning, his head resting on the table. His mother shakes his head, smiling down at them both.

"No, _you_ can't go on any missions," his mother amends, his smile mocking. "_I'm _a jounin. _I _can go on missions."

"Not while you have a team already, you can't," his father mutters and switches his head so he lies on his other cheek. He sighs explosively. "Well, it doesn't matter; I can just go train instead."

"Fantastic!" his mother replies with fake cheer. "And who'll look after _Sai_?"

Apparently his father's forgotten all about him, because his head snaps up to stare at Sai with vague recognition. His eyes lighten up when Sai's apparently remembered, and the black-haired boy waits for the verdict. As long as his father doesn't suggest _Sakura_, he'll be –

"Sakura can," his father informs them and gets up to stretch. The man, it seems, completely ignores the look Sai's sending him, as well as the look his mother's sending him. The man looks over and smiles at them. "Well, I've got to go train, so see you later!"

He's gone before Sai can say anything. He looks up at his mother with wide eyes. He pouts. "I don't want ugly to look after me."

There's amusement in those mismatched eyes, but he doesn't know what the amusement is aimed at. He can't tell if the amusement is because of the nickname, because Sai's upset or because Sakura will be looking after them, and he probably will never know.

"Maa, don't worry," his mother replies, smiling down at Sai with a brightly covered smile, "we'll figure this out!"

* * *

"Naruto~!" his mother yells, and Sai watches as the blonde flinches. He turns slowly around with a wary look on his face. It's a face even _Sai _wants to wear, because that tone of voice his mother's using is not a voice he _ever_ wants to hear. It's a teasing, mocking, and_ vicious _voice, disguised as a _sweet _one. It's _fucking scary_. Hopefully his mother never develops telepathy to hear him swear in his head, otherwise he's _fucked_.

"Yes?" his father asks warily. Sai is gently placed onto the ground by a cheerful (_fucking scary) _mother. The silver-haired man stalks towards the blonde and Sai watches, waiting for something to happen.

What he and his father don't expect is for his mother to do – as soon as he's made his way to his father – is lean down and _kiss_ his father chastely on the lips. He watches as his father's face turns pink and then goes extremely white. That's _not _the colours his father is supposed to be exhibiting; he's seen other mothers and fathers interact, and usually, they don't actually _change _colours when the act is happening.

"You forgot your kiss!" his mother replies cheerfully.

It scares both Sai and his father.

* * *

"Why did you _kiss _me?" his father asks his mother frantically. It's said low enough that Sai's not supposed to hear, but he hears anyway. Maybe he hears this because he's outside of their bedroom door listening in. He knows it's impolite and _bad_, but they've been cooped up in that room for a while. He just has to know if they're okay. Those words, however, are not the words he wants to hear. His father shouldn't be _asking_; he's supposed to _accept _his mother's affection.

"Sai thinks we're his parents," his mother explains and Sai's chest hurts. _Thinks_? They _are_ his parents – he _chose _them. They can't be anything else except his parents. To be anything else would be a lie. "So I decided to _act _like it. You should too."

"I don't want to kiss someone I don't even _like_," his father replies heatedly. "Sure, Sai's going to be fooled until he turns into _himself _again, but I don't want to _lie _like this. I'm not that kind of person. I lie for important things, not things like this. I _won't_ lie."

His mother makes a noise from the back of his throat. "Well, what if you _didn't _have to lie?"

"What are you saying?" his father asks suspiciously.

Sai has the feeling Kaa-san is rolling his eyes. Sai's rolling his eyes at the moment, too; his father's dense. _Really _dense. Sai's young and even _he _understands where this is leading. He didn't like where the conversation started – because, honestly, how could they pretend they're _not _his parents? – but he likes where it's leading.

"I'm saying that, perhaps… we could actually _be _parents."

"I _told_ you already, I _don't_ want to lie."

His mother makes a frustrated noise. "You don't get it, do you? We could –"

Sai's usually a patient person. He has to be, sometimes, to deal with people. But right now, he's anything _but _patient. He's impatient and it's _all _Tou-san's fault. He flings the door open and stares flatly into his father's eyes. His father looks shocked and embarrassed, but his mother doesn't look at all shocked, so he must've known Sai was there the whole time.

"Kaa-san's trying to say that instead of _pretending _to be parents and a couple, you can actually _be _one," Sai explains, rolling his eyes. His mother raises an eyebrow at him, but doesn't comment. His father chokes and turns red and then white – not the colours Sai wants to see. It's like that kiss all over again, and that's unnatural. He wants his father to smile and blush, not turn _white_.

"But I don't like him like that!" his father splutters. "I'm pretty sure _he _doesn't like me like that!" he points at Kaa-san angrily. "And, you should stop calling him Kaa-san, because he's not a _girl_! _Girls_ are the mothers and _boys_ are the fathers! I'm not your father, and _he _isn't your mother! We aren't _together_! Why can't you just call Sakura your mother and Kakashi your father?! It would've made everything _easier _for me!"

Sai shakes his head while his eyes water. "No, no, you're – you're Tou-san, and – and that's Kaa-san," he says softly and his bottle lip quivers. "You love each other and you love _me_. You're my parents."

Kaa-san shoots his father a look with a raised eyebrow and sighs, kneeling down. Sai runs into his mother's arms and buries his head against his chest. He grabs his mother's shirt tightly and ignores everything else. He hears his father huff angrily and moves towards the door. He twists around and looks at his father, who's almost out of his eyesight.

"Tou-san!"

"I'm not your father, Sai," he mutters. "And he's not your mother. We never will be."

And then he's gone.

* * *

Sai holds onto his mother's hand tightly and trembles. He feels safe with his mother near, but it doesn't feel the same without his father. He thought Tou-san would come home later last night, but he never did. He must've gone home to sleep there. He hasn't seen his father all day and the only company he's had is his mother's. It can get tiring after a while without the cheerful chatter and playful banter.

"Can we go look for Tou-san?" he asks, looking down at the ground.

Kaa-san hums thoughtfully. "Not today."

"Why not?"

"He has to think about some things before we can see him," his mother explains. Sai looks up at the silver-haired man's tired face with a grimace. His mother isn't looking down at him, but at the end of the road. Sai looks, but sees nothing out of the ordinary.

"What does he need to think about?" he asks grumpily.

"He doesn't know if he wants to be your father or not, and he doesn't know if he wants to be with me or not," his mother explains. "He's confused, and maybe he thinks I only want him because of you. But that's not the case."

"Why don't we just go find him and tell him?"

"Maa, it's not that easy," his mother informs him.

"Yes it is," he replies matter-of-factly. "We just find Tou-san, tell him the truth, and then he tells you everything."

Kaa-san sighs explosively and looks down at Sai with a raised eyebrow. "Fine, but _I'll_ do the talking."

Sai shakes his head. He's stubborn and impatient and his father's being idiotic. "No. I will. The last time _you _talked to Tou-san, he ran off."

His mother rolls his eyes upwards. "Maa, if you're sure."

* * *

They knock on the door for a while, and his mother uses his chakra to feel around the house to see if his father's home. He's not, which is disappointing. Sai looks up at his mother and holds up his arms. He wants to be picked up; he wants to be comforted. His mother easily picks him up and holds him with Sai's legs wrapped around his waist and Sai's arms around his neck.

There's an awkward clearing of the throat, and they turn to see his father standing there. "I, ah, um… I need to get through."

Sai shakes his head. "Not until we talk."

"We can talk inside," his father suggests awkwardly. "I don't care. Just… just let me in."

Sai stares at his father suspiciously but looks up at his mother and nods. His mother steps out of the way and his father opens the door and lets them in. He quickly makes his way to the kitchen, where he places two plastic bags full of groceries. He puts them away and his mother places Sai quietly – and gently – onto the ground. Sai walks up to his father and watches as the man puts away everything.

"Kaa-san wants to say something," he starts, and his father nods absently.

"Sure, sure," he replies, and he's obviously no listening. Sai growls and kicks his father in the shin, who grimaces in pain and looks down at him. "What?"

He's proven right, again; his father _really _hadn't been listening. "Kaa-san wants to say something," he repeats, and this time the blonde sighs explosively.

"Sure," he turns towards the silver-haired man and crosses his arms across his chest. Sai gives his mother a significant look and the man replies with a low chuckle. He makes his way towards the blonde and looks down at him.

Kaa-san clears his throat. "When I asked if you'd like to make it official, it wasn't because of Sai."

His father shakes his head. "No, you made it obvious you didn't want –"

"I did, after the first time," his mother admits, and Sai's confused. _First time? First time for what?_ "But, when I asked… I made a cover for it. I hid my feelings behind Sai. I never forgot the first time."

His father shakes his head, his eyes wild. "But it's been _months_! Why haven't you told me _before_?!"

"Because we haven't really been able to be _alone_ before," his mother sighs. His father pointedly looks Sai's way, but the silver-haired man shakes his head. "We're as alone as we're going to get. Sai's going to forget about this anyway. But, if he doesn't, he won't mention it, because it has nothing to do with him."

Sometimes, listening to the two of them is confusing, because it's as if they have their own little language that only _they _understand. He can't make heads or tails out of the information they keep throwing at his face, and he probably won't be able to for a while, not until he has _all _of the facts.

"You could've come to my house," the blonde points out.

"And you could've come to _mine_."

"But you made it clear that it was only the _one _time and you didn't want a repeat."

"Of course I did. I may be a genius, but that's what it seemed like _you _wanted at the time."

The blonde shakes his head frantically. "No. Even before then I wanted something_ more_ instead of that."

Sai slowly makes his way to the bedroom. He doesn't want to hear any more of it, because he knows the conversation isn't really any of his business. Just because they're his parents doesn't mean he has to be in their business _all _the time. This whole thing was because he wanted them to be his parents and together, anyway, and that's what they're figuring out right now. He doesn't have to hear about _all _of the details.

* * *

In his right hand, he has his mother's pale, calloused hand held tightly in his grip and in the other hand, he has his father's tanned and calloused hand held firmly. He's being swung into the air and he laughs happily; this is what he's wanted. He's wanted a family that loves him, and that's what he's gotten. But he also got something _more _out of it – he's gotten a family that love _each other_, not just him.

He's set down on his feet again and when he looks up to see why, he sees a head of pink hair. He scowls instinctively. What the hell is _she _doing here?

The girl makes her way towards him with a happy smile on her face. "Hey Kakashi-sensei, Naruto and Sai! What are you doing out here like that?"

_Like what_? Sai thinks, because there's nothing wrong with being a family outside, is there? He's seen other families do the same thing.

"Like what?" his father asks. It's exactly what Sai's thinking, which reinforces the idea what the blonde is his father. The three of them think alike when they want to, which means they're even more of a family. Sai, his mother and his father understand each other, why they feel the way they do and, more importantly, they understand each other's boundaries.

"Like a…" she leans in close and looks around furtively. "Like a _gay couple_."

His father adopts a confused look. "You mean we're not allowed to do that outside?"

Sakura's face scrunches up. "Why aren't you protesting against that?"

"I'd think the answer is obvious," his mother drawls out and leans over to kiss his father's cheek. The blonde blushes in response. "It's because we are a gay couple. We're allowed to do this outside. The last time I checked, Sakura, people like _us_," he gestured towards himself and Sai's father, "were allowed to go outside."

Sakura sighs. "I know that. I just thought… since Naruto has always been against it…"

The blonde clears his throat awkwardly. "I've always been against it in front of you. It's easier to… be like that. You know? Since I had a crush on you and all."

Sai turns and gives his father a horrified look and then turns to his mother with the same expression. "Kaa-san! It's not true!"

His mother looks highly amused. "It is."

"But, it can't be!"

"It is."

"I won't believe it!"

"You have to believe it."

"Oi," the blonde snaps, "that's my saying. Not yours. Believe it!"

Sakura shakes her head and smiles at them. "Well then, the best of luck to you."

* * *

Sai sighs and snuggles into the warmth that's surrounding him. It's uncomfortably warm, he admits, but he's never actually had this much warmth before. He has no idea where it's coming from, but at the moment, he doesn't care.

Until he hears a snore, that is.

Snoring is not something he's used to – because he's not used to having people in his _bed_ – and so, he elbows the noise and jumps out of bed. He stumbles towards the door and takes a look at the lumps in his bed. He sees a head of silver and a head of blonde, and that's more confusing than anything, because _why is_ _Kakashi-sensei and Naruto doing in his bed_?!

He thinks about it for a moment and then relaxes. Obviously, it's a team building exercise. He wonders why Sakura isn't in bed with them, but thinks about it logically. There isn't enough room in the bed, and the girl has a very large aversion to anything decidedly _male_. He smiles for the briefest of moments and then clambers back into bed. Even though he's never heard of this team building exercise before, he'll continue to humour his teammates.

Even if the bed _is _uncomfortably cramped.

* * *

"So you've come become your usual self again, Sai," Naruto says, and the blonde looks so calm and serene and _different _than the last time Sai's seen him (which was yesterday – how can someone change so drastically in one day?) that he's immediately suspicious. What has the blonde down now? Actually, what has Kakashi-sensei done now? He wouldn't put it past the silver-haired male to do something to the blonde.

"I have," Sai says. He has _no_ idea what the blonde's asked him, but he'll just agree for now.

* * *

"You think we should tell Sai about the little mishap?" Naruto asks, watching as Sai walks out of Kakashi's apartment.

Kakashi taps his chin then shakes his head. "Nope."

* * *

For some reason, later that day, Sai has the urge to call himself Kisho, and he has no idea _why_. He doesn't feel like a Kisho, because he's a Sai.

* * *

**Schematic: **_Kisho means "one who knows his own mind" – and I'm using this ironically._

**Prompt by DREAMER1084****: **Caught by a Jutsu, Sai became younger, lost his memory, and thought Kakashi and Naruto are his parents.

**PROMPT ORDER****:**

**Moonstone blaze**_; Safe Haven  
_**theacer250**_; My Fox _


	17. Safe Haven

**Disclaimer: **_Psst, _you. Yeah, you. Come over here. No, _don't walk away_! I want to tell you a secret. It's a very secret secret, but here it is: _I don't own Naruto. _Pretty cool, hey?

**The KakaNaru Dumpsite: **This is a collection of all stories (I've made) that relate to anything KakaNaru; either with romance or none.

_Any stories here might be expanded upon later as a full fic._

_**EXCEPT FOR THIS ONE BECAUSE THIS IS A DAMN MONSTER – THIS ONE IS COMPLETE**_

**FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR PM A PROMPT!  
(**Just give the genre, what you'd like to see, plot (if you really want it) or, if you have no idea what you want, but you just want to see a KakaNaru thing, give me a word (for example: sacrificial leather boots)**)**

**THE PROMPT ORDER IS LOCATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE!**

**Schematic: **_These prompts are gradually becoming darker and darker. There's hardly any room for humour anymore. But I included humour anyway._

_**DID I JUST MAKE NARUTO OLDER THAN HIS FATHER OMFG I'M SO SORRY**_

I just read through my story again _AND I_ _MADE NARUTO OLDER THAN MINATO AND I DIDN'T EVEN REALISE; I JUST SAW "MINATO IS THIS AGE WHEN THIS HAPPENS" and I made Naruto a certain age and then ALL OF A SUDDEN THAT HAPPENED OMFG_

**Schematic: **_So… the KakaNaru aspect starts in Kakashi's point of view._

**WARNING: **AU! There are things that change! For example, the time periods between what happens from Obito's (canon) death to when Minato becomes Hokage is different. (It says, in the Naruto wiki, that Minato becomes Hokage when he is not even thirty.) _**SPOILER WARNING FOR BASICALLY EVERYTHING IN THE MANGA INCLUDING CHAPTERS 600+**_. Also, characters in here may seem a bit OOC; for example, Naruto.

**Schematic: **_Ah! Moonstone, you said "helping from the shadows" and then I got 4,000 words in and then I realised he wasn't doing anything from the shadows. Well, he was doing some things in the shadows… but. Ah! I hope you're not mad at me for this! Please don't be mad at me!_

_**I SUCK AT WRITING COMBAT, FORGIVE ME**_

**I'M ALWAYS OPEN FOR CRITIQUE!**

**Schematic  
Prompt by: Moonstone blaze  
** **(**_To see the full prompt, scroll to the bottom_!**)**_  
_ **Safe Haven  
**_Naruto is twenty-seven and in the past_

* * *

**Naruto**

**Are you sure you want to do this? **Kurama asks, startling Naruto. He loses his footing and lands flat on his face with a groan; he hasn't heard from the fox in _weeks_ and now the damn fur-ball decides to talk to him?! When he's _running_?! Of course, he should be used to this (what with having a fur-ball in your thoughts 24/7) but he's not. Because Kurama didn't start talking to him until he was well in his_ teens_. **Because this can fuck up your timeline indefinitely,** the fox continues and, with both amusement and exasperation, he adds, **nice going, idiot.**

_It's not my fault you started talking to me out of nowhere!_ Naruto snaps. _I haven't heard from you in _weeks_! _He pushes himself off of the ground and brushes the dirt and tries (and fails) to get the grass stains out of his clothing. He ignores the fox's grumblings and looks around himself; he's surrounded by trees, with no civilisation in sight, which means they can start off the ritual from _here_. He's going to go back in time and he's going to change _everything_ for the better. When he's done, there'll be no more Akatsuki, no more Madara, no more vengeful Obito's and, hopefully, there won't ever be another war. In other words, when Naruto's born again in the next timeline (the one he's going to change – and fix – beyond repair, he'll have no purpose. _Kurama,_ he says thoughtfully, _would you still be in existence when we go back?_

The demon fox hums thoughtfully. **I've never done this before,** he replies slowly. **I assume I **_**will**_** still be in existence. But,** he growls, **we'll have to avoid the other Kyuubi at all costs.**

The words are weird to Naruto's mind; there'll be _two_ Kyuubi's; one from this timeline and one from the other timeline, so in essence, there's two of the same person in existence in the same place. So when Kurama says 'the other Kyuubi' instead of 'the other _me_', it's confusing. They're the same being, with the same attitudes, the same values – everything is _exactly the same_ – so the wording is incredibly confusing. He looks around himself again, noting the way the clearing he's come to is the ideal space he needs for this particular ritual. He hasn't been told much about the ritual itself – only that he needs to make a square-like shape with a few symbols in the middle of it – and that it's going to be _immensely _painful. He's used to pain by now, so this ritual will be a piece of cake.

_Don't you mean 'the other me'? _he asks. He takes out a scroll and pushes some chakra into the seal on the side of it and some black paint falls out of it. He takes out a brush and dips it into the liquid and begins to make the square. It's a fairly large square that fans out with three times the amount of span Naruto usually has. It's not the largest square Naruto's made in existence – he's made larger back in Konoha, after all – but it's a fairly decent sized square. Once he's done with it, he stands in the middle.

**No,** Kurama replies, rolling his eyes. For a split second, Naruto's confused with whatever Kurama's talking about, but then he remembers the conversation they've just had. He supposes he's been too busy with making the square, but he's had to do this. Without it, he doubts the ritual would work. **Back then, I was a completely different fox. I was more vengeful, more fuelled with **_**hate**_** and **_**malice**_**. Don't get me wrong, I still have the hate and malice still with me, but I used to **_**revel **_**in it, no matter where it came from and who it was directed at. So no, that is **_**not **_**the other me. I'm an improvement of those times. Just think of the "other me" as a fox that's unrelated to me.**

_If you're sure that's what you really want, _he sighs, and the large fox nods.

**It is.**

He looks around himself again, one more time. This will be the last time he's in his current timeline and, if he ever comes back, he'll most likely be dead, because that's when he'll stop fixing everything in the past. If he dies before he completes what he sets out to do, then he's wasted his whole life right up until that moment. He wants _everything_ to be different. He wants Kakashi's past not to haunt him anymore (and only the good things to stay, like friendship and teammates and _not wanting to leave anyone behind_), he wants his parents to _live_ (even if he'll never interact with them, _ever_), he wants the Uchiha's to see where they've gone _wrong_ (dominance is never the answer in a village – Itachi doesn't need to go through it a second time), he doesn't want the Akatsuki to _exist_ (because it all starts to go wrong from there) and he wants the next generation (_his_ generation) to know nothing of war.

He doesn't want _anyone_ to know anything of war. Only the people too old he can save can know war, and he himself can know it, because he alone can see it. No one else shall suffer.

_So how do I do this?_ he asks, standing in the middle of the square with his paint brush at the ready. Images swirl around in his mind and grasps at them; he starts to get to work, making nine symbols in the grass with his paint. He paints them diagonally in the middle of the square, the first symbol at one point of the square, with the rest of the symbols running to the other point of the square, evenly placed apart. He finds it fitting that there are _nine _symbols. Everything just goes back to the nine bijuu, doesn't it? When he's done, he stands before the symbols with determination. He has to get it all right. _Did I recreate the symbols perfectly?_ They can't be anything else_ but_ perfect, otherwise Naruto can die before he even changes time periods. Everything has to be right – everything has to go according to plan.

**You don't do anything except to stabilise my chakra, **Kurama tells him, **that's what those symbols were for. Now, all you need to do is lie on the ground, with your head touching the first symbol and your feet touching the ninth. I'll do the rest.**

_That's it_?! Naruto asks incredulously as he lies down on symbols. He has no idea what the symbols even mean – they're not in a language he's ever seen before – and the paint hasn't even begun to dry yet. His back touches the symbols, and he can feel how wet the paint is through his jacket and shirt. He fights the urge to shiver. _All I have to do is lie here? _

**Yes,** Kurama snaps, apparently tired of his whining already. Then, the fox sighs and explains his actions, something Naruto's always liked about the fox. No matter what the fox is doing, he always explains; even when the nine-tailed fox hated him, he still explained what he was doing – even if it brought pain to Naruto. **I'm more powerful than you are, which means I don't need anything like silly seals to change our timeline. All I needed were those symbols, and don't worry about what those symbols mean. They're written in my demon language – knowing what they mean could have unforeseen consequences. You're lucky I'm on your side **_**and **_**I know how to do this. You know the risks of this ritual.**

Naruto nods, closes his eyes and flings his arms out wide and spreads his legs. He has to brace himself for pain, and this position is the only one he knows that can help him. He grits his teeth when he feels the burning chakra racing through his veins to meet the earth. It hurts, badly, but he can't do anything about it. He's a conduit, something that's only being used to redirect the chakra. He clenches his teeth, but the chakra keeps coming and it's becoming _painful_; so painful that he feels like _screaming_ and that's what he does. He has no recollection of opening his mouth and screaming, but that's what he's doing. He hears nothing, for blood is rushing in his ears. He knows nothing except _pain_ and _determination._ He has to get through this – everything is resting on his shoulders. The fate of the timeline is resting on his shoulders _alone_.

**It's going to start hurting even more. Scream when it gets too much. I'll let up a bit to let you brace yourself.**

The voice echoes within his head and he can barely make out the words, but when he does, it's too late; the pain becomes _excruciating_. The voice has told him the pain would let up, but it _doesn't_. Perhaps the voice is just his wishful thinking. He fights the urge to curl up in a ball, because it's physically impossible. All of the nerves in his body are protesting even when they're laying out flat, and he abhors the thought of even _moving_. So he doesn't. He screams and his throat feels raw. He blacks out for a moment and when he comes to, the pain is still there. The pain is so _unimaginable _that even falling unconscious is impossible. Everything on his body _hurts_ and to make matters worse, tears are streaming from his eyes. They burn on their way down his cheeks, but he can't do anything about it except scream in agony some more.

**The earth… does not want us to go back, **Karuma pants in exertion, **but… we **_**will**_**.**

And then, with one final push of chakra, something happens. All of the pain leaves Naruto's body and he lies there limply. His mouth hangs open and his scream is cut short. He feels like he's floating, but he won't open his eyes. He won't open his eyes until he _knows _he's in the past – or, at least, somewhere else instead of surrounded by trees. He'll never know where he is yet, though, because it takes roughly and hour for the "ritual" (and that's the only word he has for it, because it just seems so _odd _and he feels so _sacrificial_) to take effect. So the only thing he can do, when all of his nerve-endings are on fire and all the bones in his body feel like they're _broken_, is to lie there limply and wait.

**When I regenerate my chakra, I'll start to heal you again,** Karuma mutters softly. He's the only thing Naruto can hear and he's relieved. No one has heard them and come running. **I didn't mean to hurt you that much. Everything will be fine. Just… wait a while. **Everything will be okay soon.

_I can wait… I'll just…_ he thinks. Having his eyes closed, he thinks, isn't a very good idea when he's this drained, because he knows soon, he'll fall asleep. His heart that had been thudding painfully against his chest is now slow and sluggish and it's not painful anymore.

**Naruto? ** Kurama growls out. **Oi, brat, Naruto, chibi, listen, what – Naruto – don't go to sleep! **_**Don't you dare fall asleep, you little brat**_**!**

He's too late, because Naruto is already asleep.

* * *

Naruto's eyes flash open as he sits up. He looks around himself and notices there are no longer trees surrounding him; all he can see is dark soil, debris and little shoots of grass splattered here and there. The floating feeling returns to him again and it makes him want to lie down and fall asleep again, but he _can't_. He struggles to his feet and stands there with his hands on his knees, gasping for breath. His eyes land on the ground under his feet and he notices there are no more symbols and there's no painted square in sight.

_We did it, _he breathes and, with much more enthusiasm, he punches the air. "We _did_ it!" He had his doubts for a week solid about the ritual, but now, as he looks around himself again, he wonders why he doubted. He's here now. Sure, it was painful, but… he's _here_. His new dream can finally become a reality.

'**We'? **Kurama scoffs, flicking his tails in agitation. Naruto freezes at the tone of voice the large fox uses. **I poured **_**nearly all of my chakra **_**into this, and you have the **_**gall**_** to say **_**'we'**_**? Even after I use up nearly all of my chakra, I had to regenerate my chakra again to heal you. Don't you start bullshitting about this 'we' business. It was only possible because of **_**me**_**.**

Naruto laughs sheepishly. _Sorry, Kurama. _You _did it._

The fox lets out an amused huff and doesn't say anything else. Once Naruto's gained his breath, he looks up and he notices it's gotten dark. Instead of the sunny, clear sky he'd seen while making the ritual, it's now close to night time; the sun is nearly gone and he can see the moon already hanging high in the sky. He looks around himself and groans, slapping his face gently. He has _no idea _where he is. The place he stands in _could _be the place he found in the future, but even then, he has no idea where he is. He'd found this place by running away from Konoha after he told his adoptive family what he'd plan to do. He'd told them, very matter-of-factly, that he was going to travel like Jiraiya.

Yes, he'd lied to them. But so what? It's not like he told them _exactly _where he was going, and if his adoptive family tries to even send out people to find him… he's already gone. They can't find him anymore. His heart twists painfully, but he has to deal with it. He's in the past now. He's changing everything and everything he once knew… is _gone_.

**Are you starting to have a mental breakdown **_**now**_**? **Kurama asks incredulously. **Why can't you have it later when you've**_** accomplished **_**what you set out to do.**

Naruto hits himself almost painfully in the face again, but he's smiling. _Thanks, Kurama._

**No problem.**

He steps forward once he's got his bearings and twists himself around. He sniffs the air, trying to find the way he should be going. Konoha, he knows, has a very distinct smell; it smells like freshly cut grass, torn leaves, raging fires and_ home_. Konoha has a welcoming scent, which is how Naruto always, _always_ knows where the village is located. He's never gotten lost on the way home. Sure, he's had a few moments where he's gotten lost on the way to a destination _from _Konoha, but he's never gotten lost on his way _to _Konoha.

His nose picks up a new scent – something that's close to him – and he _moves_, dodging to the left, just as a kunai whizzes past where his neck used to be. He snarls and twists his body, his leg coming up to _smack_ a man with blue hair in the chest, pushing him back a few metres. The man runs back at him and Naruto jumps up into the air, taking three kunai out of his leg bindings, the man following suit. Naruto hasn't had a fight like this in a long time. Hell, he hasn't had _a _fight in a long time, not after he secured victory for all of the elemental nations. He's missed this; he's missed the adrenaline pumping through his veins and he's missed the way he can bodily throw someone with his strength _alone_. The blonde throws the kunai with precision and kawarimi's out of the way of an incoming shuriken from another direction.

The shuriken imbeds itself in the log and Naruto stands there, two men landing in front of him. The man with blue hair has a smirk on his face and the newcomer has black hair. They're obviously his enemies, so he feels no remorse for them when he runs at them with the intent to kill. He watches their muscles twitch and he knows they're about the jump into the air.

When they do so, he's ready for them; he dodges the fire-ball aimed for him and kick to his head and stores all of his chakra into his fists. He learnt this technique from Sakura when he continued to bug her about it. When both of his fists end up in their faces, they fly backwards and land on a few crumbling rocks. When they make no attempt to get up, he grins to himself. They're out of commission.

_I forgot what it was like during the third shinobi world war,_ Naruto sighs. He lands on his feet and looks around. They haven't made a significant mess, so it's fine. No one will know he was here. He sniffs the air again and smiles. He catches the scent of Konoha and sprints that way.

**Have you forgotten already that you're from the future? **Kurama grumbles. **They won't know you mean no harm. **

_What else am I supposed to do, Kurama?!_ Naruto yells as he finds some trees. He pushes chakra into his feet and runs up them and onto their branches, jumping from one tree branch to another. _How do I tell them I mean them no harm but want to join the village?!_

**Good question. You were the Hokage before you left, were you not?**

_What does that have to – oh._

Kurama grins and Naruto lets out a laugh. Of course he'd forget about _that_. But now that he's remembered it, well… it'll be easier to convince the Third to let him join Konoha.

* * *

As soon as he gets to the gates of Konoha, he's cornered by three ANBU. Obviously, they've felt his chakra coming from a mile away and feel threatened. Because Naruto? Well, he's got a _lot_ of chakra, which is a massive understatement. He's got Kurama's chakra in his veins as well as his own; it's a volatile mixture and it's a _large _mixture. He sees a person in a weasel mask (which, he thinks, must be the predecessor to Itachi), one with the crane and one with the wolf (which must be the predecessor to Kakashi).

Instead of looking scared, he just looks amused. It's night time – with only the moon and the lanterns illuminating their still forms – and when it's night time, there should always be mischief.

"So I've got three ANBU to greet me? How lovely," he chuckles. He sees the subtle shifting of their muscles that means they're offended and enraged and he praises them on keeping it cool. The wolf stalks forward with crane and weasel flanking him – and this tells Naruto a lot of things. It tells Naruto that wolf is the captain of the team and the others are his subordinates. They're not _just _his subordinates either; one, he's pretty sure, is his lover and the other is a trusted friend.

"We are to bring you in for questioning," the wolf snarls and Naruto raises his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Are you sure about that? Perhaps you'd rather bring me to your Hokage?" he's met with silence and a sharp shake of one of the ANBU's heads. He grins at them and enunciates, very slowly, "**I mean no harm.**"

All three of the ANBU's muscles tense so badly that Naruto feels sorry for them. It looks like it hurts like a _bitch_. He'd only meant to speak in the demon language – and he instantly regrets it, because his tongue and the back of his throat feels like they're _burning_ – because this language (specifically those four words) has been documented by the previous Hokage's. A long time ago, there had been a tomb and (to cut a long story short) there had been some words in the demon language.

There's one thing about the demon language that is very different from the spoken language that all humans speak now: demons can't tell _lies_. They can twist the truth a bit, only speak half-truths, but they can't _lie_ when they speak in the demon language. It's impossible.

"He just spoke…" Weasel-san whispers in fear, and Naruto's grin widens. It's a good thing ANBU are taught these things when they're training, otherwise Naruto would be fucked.

"Yes, I just spoke in _that _language," Naruto agrees, nodding his head. "Now, do you want to take me to your Hokage or not?"

They hesitate and crane steps forward. The wolf hisses at him to stand back, but his subordinate ignores his words. "The Hokage is currently unavailable."

**Unavailable? **Kurama scoffs, his tails flicking in curiosity. **When you were Hokage, you were never **_**unavailable**_**. That was when we were in **_**peace time**_**.**

_It's interesting, but I can smell their lies._

Kurama snorts. **Of course you would inherit **_**that **_**from me.**

"We're in the middle of the third shinobi war," Naruto replies slowly, losing his grin, "and your Hokage is _unavailable_?" He steps forward, and the three of them step back, creating space between them. "I can smell your lies, ANBU. Take me to your Hokage."

They hesitate again for a split second but concede.

_It's odd that they didn't kill me on sight._

**It is.**

* * *

"So what do you propose I do?" the Hokage asks, once Naruto tells him of his (slightly altered) predicament. And by slightly altered, he really means _altered_, because the lies he's just spun is definitely _not _why he's here, but it's gotten him the best results he could hope for.

He told the Hokage that he was from a previous village (that had been wiped out) and that he'd like to join Konoha.

"Let me enlist for ANBU candidacy," he replies bluntly. He needs the information ANBU can grant him, as well as the S-ranked missions. Without both of those, he won't be able to make his dream a reality. He won't have the _freedom_ to make his dream a reality, unless he takes up a Jounin-level position or even a _spy_ position.

The Hokage stares at him flatly with a raised eyebrow. "I can't offer you an ANBU position on the first day of being a Konoha citizen –"

"I said _candidacy_," Naruto interrupts. He feels guilty for interrupting, but he has to get this over and done with _fast_. He needs all of the political bullshit out of the way so he can be a part of Konoha and a part of its future. "I can be some other kind of ranked person in the meantime until I actually _make _ANBU."

Hiruzen strokes his chin thoughtfully. "In the meantime? I can feel your chakra," the man points out coolly and Naruto doesn't even twitch. He knows everyone can feel his chakra, no matter where he is; he's just got _so much _that it's impossible to hide all the time. He did it when he was an ANBU and he had to do assassination missions of course (suppressing for a short amount of time was alright) but suppressing all the time… he couldn't keep it up for _that long_. That's why, personally, Naruto thought everyone that had this much chakra is _always _a Kage by the end of it. Because it's impossible to function as anything else. "You're suited for a Jounin and Tokubetsu Jounin position. But, of course, I'll have to set aside some time to test you for it."

"Thank you for considering it, Hokage-sama," Naruto replies. It feels weird. He's never, once, called the old man by his title when he was alive, but now it's different. He's just a stranger. His heart clenches in pain at the thought, but he can't help it. He stands up and bows. "Please inform me when you have a day ready."

* * *

_We're wasting so much time, _Naruto says, horrified. It's been a month since he arrived in the past and the only thing he has to show for it is that he's become a Tokubetsu Jounin. He barely twitches when he feels the chakra of someone running this way at him. He's used to all of the jounin, genin and chunin coming to see the new jounin and Konoha resident. He just ignores it all and stays stuck to the branch he's sitting on. They don't bother him anymore. _I don't have time for any of this. I need to be out_ there_._

His eyes stray towards the gates that he can see from here and he growls inaudibly. He's got three months before Obito (technically) dies. _Three months._ It's basically nothing in the grand scheme of things, but what is he supposed to do leading up until that time? Is he supposed to just sit here and do _nothing_? He's twenty-seven for fuck's sake; he should be out there _helping_. There's a war going on, and yet there's so many shinobi still cooped up in the village. It's _nothing _like how the fourth shinobi war was like, where _every shinobi _was out fighting. Sitting here on this branch, he feels utterly _useless_.

**Obito's "death" is soon, isn't it? **Kurama muses.

_Yes. Thanks for reminding me,_ Naruto grumbles gloomily as he slumps against the branch. His mood is definitely turning sour, which is not usually like him, but he can't help it. _Impending doom _would sour anyone's mood.

Kurama rolls his eyes and shakes his head in fond exasperation. **That wasn't what I was getting at. You're in the past, right?**

_Of course._ Where the fuck is this going?

**Maybe you should help train Obito so he can get out of the way faster. Then it can prevent certain things from happening.**

Naruto visibly brightens and jumps to his feet, his chakra keeping him from falling off of the branch. Obito will never meet Madara if he has a say in it. A grin smothers his face as he thanks his bijuu and jumps off of the branch, only to land on a roof a fair distance from where he is. He roof hops to his destination and gets there in record speed; he's there in less than a minute, at training ground seven.

_My old training ground_, he muses wistfully. Four heads promptly turn at his entrance and he's suddenly hit with _sadness_. He sees the father he's lost (that he's come to terms with – he really has, but _seeing him in the flesh again…_), the man that becomes his future sensei (and, later, his best friend), the man that becomes hell-bent on the destruction of the world as everyone knows it (he comes to his senses when it counts, but he's done his part) and the catalyst (the girl who started it all). In this four-man cell, he also sees what _he _used to have, before everything started.

Four sets of eyes are trained on him and he abruptly turns his face away. He can't look them in the eye. He can't be his usual _cheerful _self anymore, because he knows their future. And it _hurts._

"What are you doing here?" a voice scowls at him and Naruto's fully prepared to snap back, but he can't. He swallows and shakes his head.

"Nothing," he replies softly and he vanishes as fast as he arrived, jumping into the nearest tree and racing for the rooftops.

**WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! **Kurama yells at him and if the fox had his way, Naruto's face would be imbedded somewhere in the ground. As it is, the fox doesn't have his way and the only thing his loud voice does is give him a headache. **YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO GO HELP THE BRAT!**

_I CAN'T_! Naruto snaps back. _NOT NOW_!

**IF NOT NOW, WHEN?! YOU SAID IT YOURSELF; HE ONLY HAS THREE MONTHS LEFT! **

He stumbles on the roof, his chest hitting the bricks and he grimaces, rolling to his back. He looks up at the sky. It's bright and sunny and _hopeful_. It sickens him as much as it brings him hope.

_Give me a week, _he replies softly.

* * *

"Minato," Naruto chokes out when he lands in front of the other blonde. The man's eyes narrow, but he doesn't make any movement towards him, which is a plus for him. Three other sets of eyes are on his back. They're curious. If this happened to him when he was their age, he would've been curious too. Except, he would've been much louder about it; he would've yelled out, 'Oi, you, what are you doing here?' or 'Oi, who are you?' or even 'Ah, you're that guy from before! Weirdo!' instead of silently judging him from behind their back.

"You're the man from before," Minato says cautiously.

Naruto rubs the back of his neck and looks to the side to ignore those damn eyes. He can't stand it. He couldn't stand it when he first met his father (because those were his _father's eyes, damn it_!) and he still can't. "Yeah," he clears his throat. "Sorry about that. I thought I had the wrong training ground, but it seems I got the right one."

The man hums. "So, what did you want?"

He can't beat around the bush anymore, so he looks his father right in the eyes. He fights the urge to turn tail and run away, but he can't. What he's doing is important, so he can't chicken out. He has to save this life in order to have a better future. _But what will Kakashi be like in the future, in a future where Obito _doesn't _die? _"I thought I'd ask you permission to train one of your students."

A voice splutters from behind him and he twists his body just enough so he can see the face of whoever's talking. It's Obito who speaks. "You're going to train _him_?!" he points harshly at the silver-haired boy standing next to Rin. "He doesn't _need _any more training!"

"I didn't say I was going to train _him_," Naruto replies, rolling his eyes. "He doesn't even look like he's noticed I exist, so I could care _less _about a brat like him." He turns back to Minato, ignoring the furious gaze shooting him in the back. "I would like to train Obito."

Minato's eyebrows shoot up in surprise, and he hears Obito yelling in the background. _He's like me when I was young, _Naruto thinks with a pang. But he doesn't know if Obito's like this because he _naturally _is like this, or because there are people out there set on bullying him. He can't be too sure. Or, it could be something unrelated like someone abusing him. Just thinking about it makes Naruto's blood boil; he wouldn't wish that on _anyone_. He quickly squashes the feeling; he knows his face changes whenever he feels something strong.

"Why do you want to train Obito?" Minato asks suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at him. "There are plenty of other people to train. _I'm _training him, for instance."

"While that is true," Naruto concedes, picking his words carefully, "I believe it's unfair that he has an unfair advantage on his team. He is, as I have noticed, the weakest of your team." He hears spluttered denials, but he ignores them. It's true. Rin is stronger than Obito is at the moment, as much as it might hurt the Uchiha's pride. "I would like to train him for two months. He will have the same team meeting times like usual, except he will do all of his training with me."

Minato continues to stare at him suspiciously. "I don't know…"

"I will also be training Maito Gai," Naruto replies and inwardly winces. _Where the fuck did that come from? _"And anyone else that would like to have extra training. I just felt Obito would like to be trained by a teacher one on one, with no interruptions from his teammates."

"Why Gai?" Minato asks, bewildered.

Naruto shrugs and smiles. "He needs the guidance." Which is true; he's seen Gai around Konoha, and that kid really, _really_ needs the guidance right now. He's seen what the kid is like when he's older, but right now, he's not exactly the 'Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha'. "Would I be allowed to train Obito? I would like to know now before I make any preparations."

Minato nods slowly. "I will agree to it, as long as Obito agrees." He turns towards the Uchiha and Naruto turns himself around and moves to the side, where he can see all of team seven from where he's standing. "Obito?"

"Of course!" Obito replies brightly and pumps his fist into the air. "I can finally beat Kakashi-teme at something!"

"He's just like when I was young…" Naruto whispers to himself and Minato turns to him with a curious look. He blushes once he realises he's spoken aloud; he hadn't meant to do that! The kid… Obito just acts _so much _like his younger self that it's painful. It's like looking at a mirror, except Obito knows his flaws. He shakes his head and smiles brightly. "Glad to have you on board, Obito-kun!" he grins at the young Uchiha. "Meeting days will be Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; I'll pick you up from here! Don't be late!"

He grins at them, salutes, and jumps into the trees.

Before he's out of earshot, he hears his father's distinct voice. "Did any of you get his name?"

He jumps onto the rooftops and curses. _That's _the one thing he forgot! He slaps his forehead with the palm of his hand, groaning.

**Of course you'd forget something like that,** Kurama laughs.

_Shut up, fox. I've got a lot on my mind,_ he replies and then his face falls as he remembers what he told Minato. A horrified grimace overtakes his features. _I said I'd train Gai!_

Kurama shudders. **Maybe this time you can make him get rid of the jumpsuit.**

* * *

"I didn't catch your name yesterday," Minato says, slowly, and inwardly, Naruto cringes. He sucks at names. When Sakura was pregnant with her first child, she'd come running to Naruto for help on names. He'd helped and he'd gone face-first right into a wall. When he dies, he's pretty sure the one thing that's going to be emphasised on his grave is "Naruto Uzumaki – the man that is a failure at names". Did he even give his name to the Hokage?

**Yes, you gave an obviously fake name to the Hokage,** Kurama replies in an amused tone. **It'll come to you. Don't worry.**

"Ah, didn't I tell you yesterday?" he asks sheepishly but inwardly, he's panicking. Holy fuck, what was that name? Why did names have to be so damn _difficult_?! Minato shakes his head.

"No, you didn't," Minato replies. Naruto's saved from saying anything else, because at that exact moment, Obito appears with an equally sheepish grin on his face. It's a perfect mirror to Naruto's that he's surprised that no one picks up on it.

"Sorry I'm late! I got lost on the –"

"Liar!" Naruto yells before he can stop himself and points at the Uchiha, who stares at him with wide, bewildered eyes. So does the rest of the team, but he ignores this. He's so sick and tired of hearing the same damn excuses, and if _this _is where Kakashi's lateness comes from, he really needs to nip this in the bud. He does _not _want his future self to put up with this. He doesn't want _anyone _to deal with this in the future. "If you do this every day, I'm going to put a stop to it!" he exclaims, once he notices the dark-haired boy open his mouth again. "I'll follow you to and from home if I have to!"

The boy looks at him in horror while Kakashi has a smug smirk on his face. Rin, on the other hand, has an amused look plastered on her face. Naruto narrows his eyes briefly at the silver-haired boy; the look Kakashi was shooting at Obito was the same look Sasuke used to look at _him_ with. _So this is the bastard Kakashi?_

**It would seem so,** Kurama replies.

"I don't want you to follow me!" Obito yells.

"If you're going to be late every day, I will," Naruto promises with a grin. "I'll get rid of all the black cats and I'll help all the frail old ladies so that _you _don't have to."

The boy stares at him with wide eyes. "How'd you know about that?"

"My teacher," he replies matter-of-factly. He turns towards Minato with a curious look. "Is there anything you need Obito for?"

Minato shakes his head in response. "No. Ah – before you go, can you tell me your name? I'm sure you already know mine, but you have me at a disadvantage." The man rubs the back of his neck – and this, Naruto thinks, watching the man intently, is where his own habit comes from. It's _exactly the same_. He wishes he could go visit his mother to see what habits and gestures he got from her, but he can't. Not while they both have the Kyuubi.

He freaks out inwardly. _I've forgotten my name_!

Kurama sighs explosively, rolling his eyes. **You're hopeless. I'll give you a hint: tree.**

The hint was tree? What the fuck, seriously? How could that – he fought the urge to smack himself. Of course. He rolls his eyes inwardly. Of course he'd come up with a name that's so obviously _fake_. "Kimura Daiki," he bows, "at your service."

Someone snorts and he turns towards them with a hard glint in his eyes. He sees Kakashi who's rolling his eyes and Rin who seems amused; of _course _they'd find what was wrong with his name instantly. Obito, it seems, is a lot like Naruto's younger self; the boy looks utterly confused, but the kid smiles brightly at him anyway.

"Can I call you Daiki-sensei?" Obito asks.

Naruto chuckles to himself. "Of course."

Being called a sensei always amuses him, because he's so far from being a Sensei that it's _laughable_. He was only ever called sensei _once_ and, by the time he was done with them, they started calling him "Demon Uzumaki" instead. When he was younger, being called a Demon used to be a bad thing, but after the fourth great shinobi war, being called a Demon was a good thing; it spoke of his strength and it also spoke of his determination. Maybe he was a bit of a sadist when he found out his precious people were injured, but he couldn't help that.

He's pretty sure, by the time he's finished with Obito, the kid will start calling him "Demon Kimura".

* * *

A month passes fairly easily and Naruto's proven right by his assumption; he's called "Demon Kimura" by the second week. By the third week, even Gai was cursing his name. He felt especially proud in that moment. The two are becoming significantly more prepared than they were previously, which means they're closer to surviving than they were before. It fills him with pride whenever he thinks about it.

But he knows everything's not always going to be like this.

"DAIKI-SENSEI!" two voices yell in unison and he flinches violently, twisting his body out of the way of the two projectiles. Even though they've gotten better, they haven't gotten to the levels they were in the future.

This makes it easier for him to dodge. When they were older, they were on a whole different level than what they are now. They've got a long way to go, but they're only in the beginning stages of ninja life. He twists out of the way and they immediately start attacking him at the same time. He grins to himself every time he avoids a punch and a kick and even a few kunai and shuriken. They're significantly faster than they were before. When they're panting and out of breath, he beams at them.

"Well done! You've gotten better!"

"Thanks Daiki-sensei!" they chorus and Naruto feels warm and fuzzy inside. However, it doesn't last; he sighs and the grin slips off his face. He stands straight and watches as their faces scrunch in confusion.

"I know I said I'd teach you for two months," Naruto says, "but I've taught you to the point I wanted you to be. I can't teach you anymore."

"What, why?!" Obito screeches at him with Gai nodding along.

Naruto shrugs. "I noticed you two were having the most trouble adjusting with training, so I thought I'd help you a bit. I have to cut our training short though."

"Why?" Gai whispers.

Naruto hesitates. Last night, he got conformation that he can join ANBU, which means he can start scouring the elemental countries for the beginnings of the Akatsuki and Orochimaru as well as Madara. Should he tell them about his month-long mission? Should he tell them about anything else?

"I received a mission. I start in two days."

He doesn't say anymore and his two occasional students don't ask. If he was in their place, he'd yell and scream and ask why he was being abandoned. But they don't do that. He supposes he had to realise sometime that Obito isn't him. He has similarities to him, but he isn't him. Perhaps this is what his team should've been like when he was younger; with a patient teacher and patient teammates. Instead, he got a lazy teacher and hurtful teammates.

He doubts he'll see team seven or Gai for a while.

* * *

The mission lasts for one month.

He gets back to Konoha as Inu, exhausted and frustrated, at midnight. He'd gone expecting to be able to look around for Madara, Orochimaru or even the Akatsuki, but he hadn't had the time. There had been too many ambushes, too many specifications and too much of a time limit. He had no _time_.

_I need to make time,_ Naruto whispers to Kurama. He's sitting on the edge of his bed in the ANBU headquarters, his head bowed with his bangs hiding his eyes. In his right hand, he holds his mask loosely. _Obito dies in a month._

**He won't die,** Kurama replies with confidence. **You trained him. **

_I still need time though._

**Then make the time. **

_How though? How can I make the time? I'm running out of time. In a couple of years, Madara/Obito is going to control you. I'm going to be born in a couple of years. I've… I don't have the time. Orochimaru strikes when I'm twelve. I need to wipe out the Akatsuki before they even begin. I need… I need to contact Nagato._

**How would you even find him? **

Naruto thinks for a moment. It's been a long time, more than a decade (and didn't he feel old just thinking about that word) to think about this kind of information. He tries to remember, he really does, but it just… he can't remember. He knows it's there, he just can't find it. The name Nagato doesn't even bring up any memories except for _sadness_. He clings to that emotion and then the next word Jiraiya spring out at him and then he remembers. He _remembers _his godfather's death, he remembers mourning him so much, because that man had shown him everything he'd ever need. He sifts through the memories of Jiraiya and…

_I have to talk to Jiraiya._

* * *

Half a month later, when it's coming stupidly close to Obito's (technical) death day, Naruto is looking around a nondescript bar for the white-haired sannin. Two weeks ago, he found information about his godfather's whereabouts from a pair of his informants saying that the sannin was going to be in _this _specific area sometime soon. He looks around the bar and zeroes in on the messy, white hair and makes his way towards the man.

"Jiraiya," he intones, standing right behind the sannin. The man barely flinches and only turns around to quirk an eyebrow at him. It's been a decade or more since the last time Naruto's seen this face in the flesh and his face crumples involuntarily. He shakes his head to get rid of the pain and memories and ignores the confused, concerned look he's receiving in response. "I need to speak with you."

The older man snorts. "You're already talking to me, brat."

"I think you'd want to talk to me somewhere more… _private_," he suggests and gets a horrified look in response. It's either because he's male and asking to go somewhere private, Jiraiya's noticed the similarities between him and his father or he's just finding something else to be horrified by. You never know with Jiraiya.

"I don't swing that way, brat!" Jiraiya splutters and Naruto's correct. He's horrified that a male has "come on" to him. Not that Naruto actually did that, of course. (That's his godfather, seriously, why would he _hit on _the man?)

Naruto rubs his temples. He's going to get nowhere fast if he doesn't use his henge like the _last _time he met his Jiraiya. He grumbles in his mind, makes the specific hand seals and whispers, "sexy-no-jutsu." He's perfected this jutsu, seeing as he's an adult now. His female henge – because that's what it basically is – has the face and body of a woman now, instead of that half-assed childlike henge he used to have when he was a child. On this body is no baby fat and the only thing that's remotely _similar _to his old technique is that he's still got fluffy clouds hanging around his private parts.

Immediately, Jiraiya gains a perverted look on his face and leans forward. "Well, well, if you want to go somewhere _private_, I guess I can't say no," he leers. Naruto fights the urge to shiver in disgust – the man is his _godfather_ – and winks at the man. He sways his hips as he walks away, Jiraiya on his heels. The men around the bar catcall from their positions and, in some cases; they fly back with bloody noses.

* * *

"What is the meaning of this?!" Jiraiya cries as Naruto releases his henge. He sits back, his back firmly planted on the wall. He eyes the white-haired man and waits for the man to stop with the temper-tantrum. It's gotten old. The man curses and rages, sending him dark looks every now and then and, after five minutes of this, the man sighs and slumps forward, a pitiful look on his face.

It's not going to change anything.

"Are you done?" he asks in a bored tone and the man grumbles but nods his head. "Good. I came here to talk to you about something important – and _don't interrupt me until I'm done_!" he snaps, glaring at the man when the sannin opens his mouth. His mouth clicks shut and Naruto continues in a subdued tone. "It has something to do with Konoha, but that's not the main issue. It affects _every _elemental nation. I'm talking, here, about Nagato –" he ignores the suspicious stare, "Madara," the man narrows his eyes even more, "and Orochimaru."

The man lunges at him, but Naruto makes no attempt to stop him. "How do you know all of this? Are you a spy set out by –"

"No," Naruto spits, and clenches his teeth. He knew that this would happen; after all, this was sensitive information. The only people that even _know _about this are the people that's going to cause all of the problems and the people in the room they're in. He avoids the next lunge and shakes his head. "Look, stop it. I know all this –" the man gets ready to use a jutsu, "because it's _happened_."

**Are you seriously going to tell the pervert? **

_I have no other choice._

"What do you mean 'it's happened'?" Jiraiya asks suspiciously, his eyes narrowed. "As far as I know, it hasn't."

"That's where you're wrong," Naruto replies, scowling. He stands up to his full height and takes off his shirt. "What I'm about to show you, _no one else _knows about, not even the Third Hokage," the man frowns, "so don't tell anyone else. It can have dire consequences." He pushes chakra into his belly and the seal rises up, bleeding through his skin. Jiraiya gasps and Naruto looks up into the man's wide eyes. "You see this seal? It holds the nine tailed fox."

"But Kushina already has – but the sealing is –"

"My father made this seal," he replies, cutting the man off. "Kushina, also, has the nine tailed fox. It's why I've been avoiding her – because she, and her tenant, will know about mine."

"But it's impossible to have two –"

"Not unless you go back in time," Naruto says softly and the man's face loses all the blood that's in his face. "If you don't believe me… I'll _show you_."

* * *

"So that's what happens," Jiraiya whispers, raising his eyes from the floor to look at Naruto in the eye. "What do you want me to do?"

Naruto sighs. "I need you to help me find everyone's hideouts. The Akatsuki hasn't started building yet, because Nagato hasn't started it and Madara doesn't have Obito. I know there whereabouts of Orochimaru and I know most of his plans, but he's not the person I'd go looking for just yet."

"Who do you want me to track down first?"

"Nagato," Naruto murmurs and looks at the man. "Be careful. You died once already."

* * *

"Daiki-sensei!" Obito yells, and Naruto grins in response, kneeling down to accommodate the flying projectile aimed for him. The kid stops and grins at him and Naruto ruffles his hair in affection, earning a scowl for his efforts. He laughs and stands up.

"I heard you have a pretty important mission coming up."

"I do!" his grin turns into a scowl as he looks at the ground and scuffs his shoe. "But Kakashi's going to lead us."

"He _is _of higher rank than you."

"But I don't want to follow his lead!" Obito yells, glaring up at him. "He's – he's such an asshole and he only cares about _rules_! Even though I've changed my late habits, he still _picks _on me about everything else! About everything I've done _wrong_! He's not suited to leading!"

"He may not be," Naruto replies, "but you have to learn to take anyone's orders, regardless of who's leading." The boy continues to glare at him and he sighs. "I had an asshole teammate too, you know?" Obito's eyes widen. "Yeah, his name was _Sasuke_. Everything I did, no matter what I did, was always _wrong_. It wasn't just Sasuke, either. My other teammate, Sakura, would constantly put me down. So when it was _their _turn to lead, I had to just follow them. They were my teammates and I had to follow their orders, no matter what they were. I couldn't ignore them."

They descend into silence, and Naruto starts to wonder what it would've been like if he'd stayed in the future. Would Sakura have another child? Would _Naruto _have a child? Would their infamous team dynamic change at all, if he'd stayed in the future? He misses the encouraging looks and words from his sensei, the constant fighting between him and Sasuke and he misses Sakura's fists most of all. It's not the same without them, but he has to do this. This is for _their _sake. This, what he's doing right now, he's doing for _their _future. Nothing else will change. If he dies before then, he's already told Jiraiya about all of their plans, so his dream will be continued, even if he dies. He smiles sadly. His impossible dream used to be becoming Hokage, but his dream has already come true. His dream, now, is to have a brighter future.

It'll be a future where everyone's not dead or suffering.

"Are you alright, sensei?" Obito asks and Naruto flinches.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he mutters, "just thinking about the past." _The future. _He sighs and smiles down at the young Uchiha. "I'll see you after your mission's done, okay?"

"Sure," Obito grins.

Hopefully, this won't be the last time Naruto sees the bright-eyed Uchiha.

* * *

When Naruto spies team seven coming through the gates, he's relieved to see Obito still surviving; the kid has a couple of scrapes and bruises on him, along with some bandages, but he's surviving. His heart stops, however, when he notices that Kakashi is limp on Minato's back. He struggles with himself internally, wondering if he should go see if they need help or not, when his decision is made for him. Minato nearly collapses to the ground, with Rin and Obito supporting him and Naruto jumps off of the tree branch he's on and races his way towards the team. He gets there and puts his father's arm around his shoulders.

"You alright there, Minato?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Minato replies with a tired smile. In the next moment, the blonde passes out and Naruto stumbles before righting himself awkwardly beneath the deadweight hanging off of his shoulder. He looks over to Obito and Rin, who stand there with concerned faces.

"I can't help Minato when he's got Kakashi on his back," he breathes out, "so can you two help with supporting Kakashi, or are you too drained?"

They hesitate but Rin stands forward and speaks timidly. "We're – we're too drained to help, that's why Minato-sensei is supporting Kakashi."

Naruto curses but straightens up and there's so much weight on his shoulder. He breathes in deeply and his chakra flares; he uses his chakra-infused hands to move Minato onto his back, wrapping the man's legs firmly around his waist. He clears his throat and looks over at the two kids from team seven. "Meet me at the hospital," he says, before he's gone.

* * *

Naruto sits on the windowsill, watching Kakashi and Minato's harsh breaths. He turns and looks out at the darkened sky, his back to the recovering half of team seven. They were lucky they survived, what with their severe chakra depletion. He sighs. He has to find everyone before it's too late. In a couple of months, Rin will be infused with the bijuu of the three tails by Kirigakure. She'll be kidnapped if he doesn't do anything about their plans in the next few months.

"Kimura, what are you doing here?" a tired voice asks and Naruto turns, meeting the weary blue eyes of his father's. He smiles gently in response before looking back out at the darkened sky. The stars are beautiful at night. They always have been. The stars used to comfort him when he was a child, but now, they do anything to comfort him. There are so many _things _he needs to accomplish.

"Making sure you two don't leave before they tell you to," Naruto replies softly. "You're lucky you're still alive."

"We're pretty tough," Minato says. It's silent in the room again and he wonders what he should do or say, but the blonde continues after a couple of beats of silence. "I'm glad you helped train Obito. Without it… he would've…"

"Don't worry about it," Naruto sighs. "Don't worry about the what-ifs."

But if Naruto hadn't trained Obito, the kid would be dead and it'd start the fourth great shinobi war all over again.

* * *

Naruto suppresses his chakra presence as he walks slowly out of Kirigakure. It's been exactly two months and in that time, he's broken in and out of Kirigakure a total of ten times, trying to see what their plans are. So far, they haven't gotten to the part about kidnapping Rin and putting the tailed beast inside of her, but it's only going to be a matter of time before they do. Time, he realises, is something everyone's always running out of. Something _he's _running out of.

**Time this, time that, **Kurama grumbles, shaking his head. **You have all the time in the world. **

_I don't,_ Naruto replies, sighing. He jumps up into the trees and squats down, looking out at the calm, cloudless sky. The next order of business is finding Madara's hideout, which will be difficult. The only way anyone would be able to find Madara is if an Uchiha with the clan hatred is pulled into Madara's _reality_. He's heard all about the place Obito was dragged to, how it resembled hell _so much_. No wonder the "cry baby" Uchiha had a couple of screws loose. Spending so much time with Madara in _hell _can't be good for anyone's health. _Where should I start looking? I won't be able to find Nagato yet and warn him about his eyes._

**Would convincing them to become Konoha nin work?**

_No,_ Naruto shakes his head. _It won't work. They're loyal to their village, no matter what transgressions has happened in the past. I don't believe they'd be any safer in Konoha. Remember how Obito came to my birth? They're not safe, no matter where they are._

**Just think about one thing at a time,** Kurama suggests. **If you think about everything at once, then you're bound to fail, even if your heart's in the right place. **

_You're right, _Naruto realises. Kurama, usually, is always right. This time, instead of all the previous times, he has to think about one thing at a time, or else everything will crumble around him and _fail_. He can't risk that. He gathers his resolve and jumps to the next branch, and then to the next, until he's jumping from branch to branch so fast he's only a blur. If his information is correct from the future, Kirigakure is going to kidnap Rin while she's on a mission. The only way he can intercept them is if he's following the team _all the time_. It'd be easy for Naruto, seeing as he's an ANBU.

**Finally, you've come up with a plan.**

Naruto grins and his canines lengthen, making his grin look feral.

* * *

He observes team seven as they spar each other while Minato looks on. They're doing fairly well and, since the last mission they were on, Kakashi and Obito look like they're starting to get along. Something he and Sasuke never got to do.

"Daiki-sensei!" Obito cries out and the rest of team seven turn around and look up in the trees to see him squatting in the trees. He has a habit, it seems, of sitting on tree branches, but it's the only place he can observe people without being caught out on his observations.

"Yo," he replies and steps off of the branch and lands on his feet before them. Within the week, Kirigakure is going to kidnap Rin. He's found this out by information gathering and, as always, time is against him. They're not ready.

"What are you doing here?" Kakashi asks with a growl.

"Can't I pop in now and then to see how my student is doing?" he rebuffs innocently. He turns to Minato and grins at him. "Your team's starting to work together properly, I see."

"We were working well before," Rin replies, confused and Naruto rolls his eyes.

"There's a lot less animosity between Hatake-san and Obito," he informs her. He watches as the silver-haired kid twitches and smiles to himself. Of _course _his old sensei would have a problem being called Hatake. It seems his sensei still hasn't gotten used to the use of his name. It _is _a name, regardless. He turns to Minato with a serious look. "Look out for those kids this week."

"Don't I always?" Minato replies with a grin, but his eyes are serious. His father has caught the meaning in his words, which is a good thing; he'll be alert for anything but, regardless, Naruto will be trailing them all the time this week. No matter where they go and who else is going to be around.

"Can I borrow Obito for a while?" he asks.

Minato hums and shrugs. "Well, I was going to end the team meeting today, so sure."

Obito bounces in place and grins at him. "Are we going to get some dango?"

"Well, it _is _your favourite food," Naruto says, grinning at him.

"Is it alright if I bring my teammates with me?"

Naruto shrugs and looks over at the kids. Kakashi is glaring at him for some unknown reason that only he knows and Rin has a hesitant smile on her face. "If they want to come, they can, of course," he sighs. "But I don't think they'll want to come."

"But it's free food!" Obito yells with wide eyes.

"Oi, who said anything about it being free?!" Naruto splutters.

"You always pay, so…" Obito mutters and Naruto groans. Of _course_. Well, he always paid before because Obito doesn't eat as much as Naruto does and he thought it'd be nice to pay for someone after a gruelling day of training. Hell, he always pays for Gai's food when they go out as well.

* * *

Naruto sits on the end of the stall, while the kids from team seven take up the full bench next to him. Currently, he's being given curious glances and heated glares while Obito talks his ears off. It's nice to forget for a while that he's here to make the future a better place and that Rin's going to be kidnapped within the week. It gets his mind off of everything that matters. He looks down at the three dango on his plate and wonders how long it's going to take.

"Where'd you get those scars?" Obito asks and Naruto turns to regard the Uchiha with weary eyes. He can't exactly say that he got them from being a jinchuuriki, because right now, that's beyond an S-class secret, pushing even triple S-class in secrecy. Only Jiraiya, himself and Kurama know about it.

"They're not scars," Naruto replies matter-of-factly. "They're tattoos."

He sees the disbelief on Obito's face and suspicion on Kakashi's face but all he can see his acceptance on Rin's face. He'd forgotten how naïve Kakashi's old teammates used to be. Perhaps that's how he could handle Sasuke, Sakura and himself so well.

"They're scars," Kakashi growls, "so don't lie to Obito."

_Possessive,_ Naruto thinks, amused. "Fine, fine, they're not tattoos. They're scars. I'm not going to tell you where I got them, though. That's an S-classed secret."

"Scars can't be that secretive," Kakashi says suspiciously.

**He's an annoying little brat when he's young, isn't he?**

_He is. _

"Well then, since I have to explain my S-classed secret, why do you wear a mask, Hatake?" he asks this because he already knows the reason. His teacher – and best friend – confided in him when Naruto had been Hokage for two years. That happened when he was twenty-two and Kakashi was thirty-six.

The Hatake scowls at him. "That's none of your business."

"Well, my scars are none of your business, either," he replies cheerfully. "That's why it's an S-classed secret. But, I guess I can tell you," he leans in close to Obito and Obito grins. It won't nearly be as fascinating as the boy hopes it's going to be, but it's fun messing with him. "I was born with them."

Obito splutters and leans away from him. "_That's _the secret?!" Disappointment is heavy in his voice and in his face as well as Rin's. Kakashi, on the other hand, looks like this is something that happens often. Perhaps it is; he's heard that Kushina likes to prank as much as Naruto does.

Naruto shrugs. "What'd you expect? I'm not nearly as cool as you think I am."

"But you are pretty cool!" Obito praises, grinning.

"I won't be so cool when you become Hokage," Naruto mutters with a pout. "I'll just become last week's trash."

Obito shakes his head. "Nah. You'll be come as cool as me because you'll be my trusted ANBU!"

For a moment, Naruto freezes, panicking on the inside. How'd he know about him being an ANBU? How'd he _know_?! But then logic rises up to the forefront of his mind and he thinks of what Obito's said and he relaxes. All Hokage's have trusted ANBU; Obito was merely stating that Naruto was so trustworthy and 'cool' that he'd be on par with Obito's coolness as a Hokage. He grins back.

"As long as you treat me to ramen once in a while, future Hokage-sama."

"Of course," Obito replies, offended. "You think I _wouldn't_?"

* * *

Naruto follows behind team seven, a silent, deadly shadow. He can tell Minato knows something is amiss – perhaps he feels Naruto trailing them – and every couple of minutes, Minato casually turns his head to look behind him. Naruto feels like doing something to reveal himself to the other blonde, but he doesn't. It'll ruin all of his plans and he can't do that.

It's the date Rin gets kidnapped.

"Ambush!" Minato yells and then all four of them are surrounded. The yellow flash turns towards his three students and commands them to get out of there. There are a few denials, but Naruto's there. He jumps into the fray, takes his katana from his back and slices through the Kiri-nin, creating a path for Minato's students.

"Move!" he yells at them and they quickly run ahead of him. He turns back to Minato and avoids a jutsu aimed at his face. "I'll take care of your students!"

Minato looks him in the eye and nods and Naruto leaves, running after the three students. His father is a formidable opponent, so he trusts that Minato will be alive by the end of this. He catches up to the three, who have stopped in a small clearing. They look at him as he enters the clearing and he spreads out his senses.

"You're safe," he informs them, "for now."

"Why were they waiting for us?!" Obito screams and Naruto swiftly hits him in the back of the head. The Uchiha grimaces and glares at him. "We just left Minato-sensei behind!"

"He can take care of himself," Naruto replies. He tilts his head up and sniffs the air. He twists and brings his katana up and his sword cuts clean through the shuriken. He curses and urges the kids to start moving again. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he cries, and fifty of his duplicates arrive, surrounding him. He orders ten to go after the nin coming at him from this area, he sends another ten off to the right, ten to the left, ten to stay here and ten to follow Minato's students. He follows after them swiftly, leaving the battle behind to his shadow clones. He has to stay with Rin at all times.

He catches up to them again and speaks to Obito and Kakashi. "I need you two to protect Rin for me at all times."

"Why Rin?" Kakashi asks, his face determined.

"They're trying to kidnap her," he replies, his tone grim. They gasp and Rin murmurs a desperate 'why' and Naruto has to be open to her. He has to tell her, because this pertains to Rin. This is all about Rin, so she needs to know it all. "You're the only one that will be able to carry a bijuu," he explains and by their horrified silence, he knows they understand what he's trying to say. "You two _must _protect her at all costs," he repeats and he turns around to look them in the eyes. "I'm going to attempt to get kidnapped instead. I don't want any of you to go through what they have in store."

"How do you know this?" Kakashi asks suspiciously. He has the right to be suspicious, what with Naruto's sudden appearance only months ago, but now, it only serves to irritate him. He's not a spy; neither does he have anything bad planned for Konoha.

"I've been spying on Kirigakure," he informs them. He turns back around and fans out his chakra. He feels a few kiri-nins around them and he sighs. "Get out of here."

"ANBU-san –" Rin whispers, and Naruto turns around, his eyes blazing.

"Now!" he snaps.

* * *

He comes to and grins ferally at the faces he sees. Kirigakure headbands adorn their foreheads, which means he's been caught, just as he'd planned.

"So I heard you were the one sneaking into Kiri," one of them sneers and he laughs in their faces. They're doing everything he thought they'd do. Right down to the disgusted grimaces and ugly sneers on their faces. His plan wasn't foolproof, not by a long shot, but as long as they don't have Rin, he's fine with them having him, instead. They can't force another bijuu on him, after all.

"I was," he barks out, a wide grin on his face. "I knew you'd try and force a bijuu on anyone from Konoha, no matter who they are. I thought as long as you got me –"

One of them leans forward and slaps him in the face and his neck cracks to the side. He doesn't lose his feral grin, because he knows he's getting closer to his goal. "You thought nothing," one spits, "you're not the _only _one we caught."

_No,_ Naruto whispers, the blood draining from his face. Who else did they catch? He told Obito and Kakashi to _protect _Rin. Not unless… not unless they caught Minato or the boys instead? Rage bubbles up inside of him but he fights to push it all away. He can't have rage consume him right now. He needs to think with a level head. They might not even be talking about anyone from Konoha.

"His silver hair would look nice when he changes into the three-tails," the second one laughs and Naruto's teeth clench. They caught _Kakashi_ of all people. He looks over at them and he sees the truth shining in their faces. They're not lying. Glee is written all over their faces. "He's going through the ceremony now."

Rage builds up inside him and this time, Naruto doesn't push it away.

He welcomes it.

* * *

He barges into the temple where the ceremony is taking place and sees Kakashi lying on his back, strapped to the floor. His tired and pain-filled eyes look up at him and Naruto stares down at him fiercely. He looks around the room and pinpoints _everyone_ that is going to die. There's a total of thirty Kiri-nin, most of them jounin, a few of them chunin and he can spy two ANBU in the mix. He grins and his canine lengthen. He moves into the room and everyone immediately quietens. Kakashi stares at him and Naruto looks down at him as he walks.

"It's going to be okay," he promises.

This never should've happened. No one was supposed to get caught except for _him_. No one was supposed to get hurt – _no one._ He flares his chakra out and he grabs hold of Kurama's chakra and he blends his own and Kurama's chakra together. All of the nin in the temple immediately charge at him. He closes his eyes. When he opens his eyes again, his whole body is golden.

That's when he attacks.

* * *

He made a promise. Everything would be okay. He leans heavily into Kakashi's side. He can feel something in him that's broken. He grimaces; he doesn't have the chakra to heal himself yet.

"You do realise we're going to have the whole of Kiri on our asses," Kakashi mutters and then groans. Naruto smiles weakly at him.

"Their shinobi taskforce is significantly depleted. They won't come for us. Not yet."

* * *

He wakes up and he instantly flinches, raising his hands up to protect his face. There's _people _in his room. Why are there _people _in here? He touches his face and his eyes widen in horror. He rolls over and pulls the blanket over his head. Someone had taken off his _mask_! _WHO HAD TAKEN HIS MASK_?! The better question would be: _WHO HAD LET THE BRATS IN_?!

"Don't nurses understand protocol?!" Naruto snaps loudly from beneath the bundles of blankets, rubbing his face. "You're not supposed to _know_!"

"We asked them to take off your mask," Obito admits sheepishly and Naruto freezes. Obito had done this to him? He flings the blankets off and turns around to glare at Obito in the face.

"I thought I told you about the protocols," he snarls.

Minato raises his hands in a placating gesture and stands in front of Obito with a calm look on his face. "Obito was only curious to see who would save Kakashi from certain death," Minato admits, "and so were we."

"That gives you no _right_," Naruto snarls. He quickly gets out of bed and places his ANBU mask over his face.

"The nurse didn't say –" Rin starts, but Naruto whirls around and fixes them all with a glare. She immediately quietens.

He's furious. Now that they know what mask he has, who he is, what _ANBU_ he is, he won't be able to operate out of Konoha's walls without them knowing. The whole _reason _he became an ANBU in the first place was so that he could do things outside of Konoha without anyone _except the Hokage _knowing. He needs information and informants and if any of them tell anyone about his identity, all of that can be _ruined_.

"I'm fine," he snaps. "I heal fast. You better keep this to yourselves," he warns. "I won't tell the Hokage that you broke one of the shinobi rules and one of the most sacred of the ninja protocols, but if you tell anyone else…" he lets the threat hang and he jumps out of the window. He climbs to the top of the building, runs and jumps to the next building, until he's squatting down on the roof of the ANBU headquarters. He sighs and slides down to his knees, his face buried in his hands.

He's just threatened team seven.

* * *

"Hokage-sama, I request a leave of absence for a total of three months," Naruto says, as soon as he enters the Hokage's private office. The man looks up from his paperwork and quirks an eyebrow at him to continue. "There are some leads I need to follow in regards to Konoha's continued vibrancy."

"Go on."

"I've been lead to believe that Orochimaru is experimenting on children in a secret lab on the outskirts of Fire Country," Naruto informs him. The man carefully places his pen down and stares at him. "I'm also led to believe that Nagato, one of Jiraiya the Sannin's previous students, is in danger from certain people."

"Can anyone support your claim?"

"Get in touch with Jiraiya. Now, may I be allowed to leave Konoha to follow up on these leads as an ANBU?"

"No, not as Konoha's ANBU," the Hokage sighs and rubs his temples. His face brightens and a small grin comes to his face as he opens up a drawer on his desk. He takes out a plain white mask and hands it over to Naruto, as well as a black robe. "No one will know you are connected to Konoha."

"Of course not."

* * *

**So, at least now you know where that damn snake is.**

_I've known for a while, I just haven't been able to do anything about it. I had to make sure Rin and Obito didn't die._

**You've changed so many things already. The Hatake brat doesn't have the sharingan anymore.**

_In the future, Kakashi admitted that when he received the eye from Obito, he is finally able to refine the chidori. But, soon afterwards, he also admitted that he'd rather have Obito alive._

**A jutsu in exchange for a life.** **It has a certain ring to it.**

* * *

Naruto lands in front of Orochimaru's hideout, a feral smile caressing his lips. No one would know where the hideout was located, even if they were looking for it, which is why only Naruto would be able to find it in this timeline – because the only person who had seen the inside of the lab besides Orochimaru and Kobuto was Sasuke. This specific lab was _not _where Sakura, Kakashi and he had found Sasuke, in point of fact. This specific lab was where Sasuke was first brought and the only reason Naruto even knows this is because Sasuke told him.

Seconds before he died, the bastard.

**Are you sure this is the place? I wouldn't put it past that Uchiha brat to lie to you, **Kurama grumbles. Naruto can feel the way the fox trembles in his cage and he knows what is going to happen as soon as he finds Orochimaru and Kabuto. They're going to die. They're no match for an enraged nine-tailed fox or a Hokage that's set on their death. Naruto slowly makes his way towards the entrance and puts his palms flat against the stone wall. It hisses open when he finds the door release switch. He waits ten minutes before he goes inside, though.

_It's the right place. Sasuke wouldn't lie about something like this. He was a bastard at the best of times, but he cared for innocents. _These _are classed as innocents._

He makes his way inside and sticks close to the walls. He doesn't bother suppressing his chakra, because he knows they know he's here. They're just waiting to ambush him and kill him. He smirks. It's not going to happen, though.

The hallway he finds himself in is dark and his way is illuminated by the torches hanging from the walls. The room Orochimaru will most likely be in – the experimentation room – is the second last door on the right. He makes his way to that room quickly and finds that room empty. He looks around the room, trying to remember what Sasuke told him about this room. He clicks his fingers and his face brightens – a trap door. That's what the Uchiha had told him. He falls to his knees and brushes his hands against the floor. He finds a slightly raised wooden door and he opens it. He looks around the room once more before he jumps down the trap door, the wood banging closed behind him.

He lands in a crouch. He looks up and finds Orochimaru's back towards him.

"I see we have ourselves an intruder," Orochimaru hisses, amused. He turns around and looks at him in the eye. Kabuto comes from out of a corner, a surprised look on his face. They both stare at him for a while and Naruto lets them stare. They can have these final moments before they die.

"It seems so," Naruto replies. "But, of course, you won't be having one any longer."

"Indeed."

The man lunges at him and Naruto dodges. Kurama's chakra mingles with his, and, as soon as the man comes into range, Naruto blasts the other with the burning sensation of his chakra. He watches as the man cringes, but the man continues his assault nevertheless. The man as he is now, is nothing compared to how he was when he was alive in the future.

_Ready?_

**Ready.**

The last thing he sees before Kurama's red flames consume him are twin faces mixed with horror.

* * *

_So they're dead?_

**As dead as they can be,** Kurama chuckles and Naruto doesn't ask anything more. He really, _really _does not want to know.

* * *

_I'm running out of time, _Naruto mutters and Kurama growls softly in response.

**Enough! **Kurama snarls. **You are **_**not**_** running out of time. You still have, roughly, eighteen or sixteen **_**years**_** left! Everything doesn't have to be finished in one year! Or even a few months!**

_But if I don't, Madara's –_

**Madara this, Madara that. He won't be any trouble. I **_**know **_**where he is and we'll go after him **_**last**_**.**

_But why not now? If you already know where he is, we can just –_

**No. He's too strong now. In exactly two years, his power will be depleted and then, we can go after him and **_**kill **_**him. This time, he **_**won't **_**come back.**

_So I basically have two years to myself before everything starts? _

**Yes. And then, when you're thirty, you're born and, hopefully, this time I'm not on a rampage. **

Naruto hesitates then swallows thickly. _When Naruto is born, and you're transferred from my mother to me… does that mean you cease to exist?_

**I exist now, don't I?**

_So I have to stay away from myself and my mother until I die?_

**Well, no. We don't automatically know who holds a bijuu, actually. That's a common misconception. We only know that someone holds a bijuu when our containers are told.**

_But then what about yourself? There's two of you now, so would you be able to sense another part of yourself?_

There's a beat of silence before Kurama very carefully, very softly, whispers, **Yes.**

_So I have two years… and then another year…_

**Basically.**

Naruto sighs, rolls over and pulls a blanket over his head. He _is _running out of time, no matter what Karuma says, so the first thing he's going to do tomorrow is set out to Amegakure.

* * *

When he gets to Amegakure, the first thing he feels and sees is _rain_. No matter where he looks, all around him, surrounding him is rain. The sky is dark and oppressive and the ground he treads on is even more so. Naruto's never been to a place that looks more _depressed _than any person he's ever seen. He won't be able to find Nagato – or even Konan – in this torrential rain, so as quickly as he came, he leaves. He'll have to ask Jiraiya to talk to Nagato for him. Talk to Nagato to keep him and Konan safe.

* * *

He lounges on the tree branch, watching team seven spar against Gai. He's proud of himself; he's made Gai into a formidable opponent. Of course, Kakashi is going to win – as he always does – but this is where Gai's strength starts. His strength will be recognised in years to come, but right now, Gai's doing the best he can for himself. He watches the team and Gai and observes their happy, smiling faces. They speak in carefree tones and happy tones. This is the first time he's ever seen them look so _relaxed_, and a part of them wishes they weren't. There's a war going on right outside these carefully built walls. They shouldn't be _relaxed_.

But that's how he used to be, when he was young. When he was young, he had no care in the world. He didn't care that wars were brewing, that people were dying or even that there was so much torture. All he cared about, when he was young, was _surviving_. He was happy and carefree when he was young, but he was also ignorant.

When things went bad, Naruto was always there to save the day. He was always there to help in a fight, defeat the bad guy and to finish the war, no matter what war it was. The kids… they were so _carefree_ and even _Kakashi _was starting to hesitantly smile and laugh along with his teammates. It was surreal. What had he missed out on while he was gone?

"Kimura-san," Minato says and Naruto startles and falls off of the tree branch. He was too immersed in his thoughts to notice anyone approaching. He groans into the grass as he watches team seven come over to investigate. "When did you get back?"

"Last night," Naruto replies and pushes himself up into a sitting position. He looks over at the teenagers that are looking at him with their eyebrows raised. He snorts and looks away. "You really need a pair of bells on you so you don't scare anyone else."

Minato shrugs and lands next to him. He leans down and grins at him. "I wouldn't have scared you if you had been paying attention."

"I was paying too much attention."

He looks up at the kids, just in time to see Gai's baffled expression. "How do you pay too much attention to your surroundings that you forget about your surroundings?" he asks.

It's a good question. It's not something that Naruto can explain, though. He was never the _explaining _type. He was more of the 'go find out for yourself' type.

"I don't know," Naruto says, grinning at him.

So he doesn't bother explaining.

* * *

"Kimura-san," Minato sighs and Naruto freezes. He's just left Ichiraku Ramen and he was kind of hoping to _avoid _the other blonde. He turns around slowly and eyes Minato warily. The man can be crafty when he wants to be.

"What?"

"I wanted to ask you if you could train my team for a week or two," Minato replies and Naruto cocks his head to the side in curiosity. Where the hell is blonde even _doing_? A week or two with Naruto? Seriously? He still has trouble with Minato actually agreeing on him training Obito, but all three of them, at the same time?

"What are you doing?" he asks suspiciously.

"I'm going out on a solo-jounin mission," Minato says.

"Why don't you just give your students time off?"

"I _could_ do that, but Obito's been bugging me about letting _you _train them while I'm gone."

Naruto hesitates. "I don't think I'll be up for the job," he replies slowly. "I'm not good with… aloof teenagers."

**That is an understatement,** Kurama points out.

_Shut up, don't point that out. _

Minato visibly slumps. "I'd rather _you_ look after them and train them than anything else. Please, Kimura-san?"

Naruto grumbles. "_Fine_. What are team days?"

"Every day."

"Even Sunday?"

"Even Sunday."

Naruto curses and pouts. He sighs and then shakes Minato's hand. "Fine, I'll look after them for you."

**Minato's going to regret leaving you in charge, isn't he?**

_No. I'm going to do exactly as Minato asked me to._

* * *

Naruto lies in the middle of team seven's training grounds, his hands clasped behind his head with his eyes closed. It's exactly six in the morning. He knows he has a couple of more hours before Minato's team are set to arrive, but he hasn't done this – lying in a clearing for no reason other than to relax – in a long time. In the future, Sakura and Sai used to accompany him whenever he decided he wanted to relax. It used to be team bonding. Kakashi would join them whenever he remembered to and when he wasn't late. He smiles involuntarily.

Kakashi… Kakashi was his best friend. The only person Naruto would interact with on a daily basis was Kakashi as soon as he became Hokage. Everyone else was busy with their own problems, but Kakashi… Kakashi would make the time for him. He'd come to Naruto's office at all hours of the day, from six o'clock to even midnight. Sakura and Sai never did that for him. Sakura was too busy at the hospital and with her newborn and Sai… well, Sai was too busy painting pictures of people to bother with anyone else.

All of the conditioning team seven had done to make Sai act like a normal person was for naught, because the man hardly ever interacted with people unless he had to paint them.

**Getting homesick, brat?**

_You know it._

He lies there, just enjoying the breeze in his hair and on his face. He sniffs the air experimentally and he cringes. He slowly sits up and there, standing a couple of feet away from him, is Kakashi and Rin.

"When did you get here?" he asks. He hadn't even _noticed _them arriving. He was too busy lamenting about the future to bother with his surroundings. Perhaps coming in the past – in that particular instance – was a bad idea. Overall, minus all of the homesickness, this is the best idea he' ever had.

"An hour ago," Rin replies, smiling hesitantly at him.

"Obito still hasn't arrived yet, huh?"

"Nope."

He hums to himself and stands up. He stretches and bends his back backwards. His vertebrae cracks and he smiles in satisfaction. He makes a 'follow me' gesture and the two teenagers follow him and together, they walk sedately to the Uchiha compound. When they're there, he smiles with confidence and walks up to the gates.

"I'm here to pick up Uchiha Obito," he states and the two guards – posted on each side of the gate – stare impassively at him.

"State your name," the one on the right says in boredom and Naruto looks at them incredulously.

"I do the same thing nearly every day and now you want –"

"State your name."

Naruto grumbles and rolls his eyes heavenward. "Kimura Daiki."

"Namikaze Minato's substitute," the one on the left intones.

"Yes."

The two nod in unison, look at each other and then fix a pointed stare at the blonde. "He left twenty minutes ago, heading east."

Naruto nods and sighs. "Thanks," he then grumbles under his breath and starts walking again, Minato's students obediently following behind him. Obito has a specific route he always takes, no matter the day, so if Obito's been gone for twenty minutes, it means… "Aha!" he yells out, startling the two teenagers behind him.

He jogs to the dango stand and the teenagers follow him with the same pace. Sitting at the bench is Obito and Naruto grins at him from behind his back. Kakashi and Rin, on the other hand, do not share Naruto's success because the boy is eating dango. Naruto watches their faces when they realise that Obito eats dango and does other things for three hours _before _heading to the training grounds.

"I take it you forgot that _I'm _your teacher today," Naruto says softly and Obito freezes and turns slowly to look at him. He looks guilty as all hell and Naruto grins at him. Behind him, he can feel the KI Kakashi and Rin are exuding at a steady pace. He's sure they have terrifying expressions on their face, because Obito's guilty expression is wiped off of his face, only to be replaced with horror and the paling of his face. "So maybe we should get going to our training ground, hm?"

The boy nods frantically. "Yes! Of course! Let's head there!" he turns around and waves at the owner of the stand before following behind Naruto.

_Obito's going to be beaten into paste, _Naruto says cheerfully.

Kurama chuckles in amusement.

* * *

_You know the one person I forgot? _Naruto muses while he waits for Kakashi and Rin to finish with the Uchiha. Rin, usually, is a sweet girl that wouldn't dare hurt one of her teammates but, today, Naruto's seeing a complete one eighty of her personality. He's both amused and horrified by it. He's pretty sure she's like Sakura, except a lot less bloodthirsty.

**What person? We have a **_**long **_**list.**

Naruto rolls his eyes. _Danzo. I forgot Danzo._

**Oh, that asshole. That… getting rid of him is **_**not **_**going to be easy.**

_Don't I know it? If I try to lay a finger on him, one of his many spies is going to inform someone else before, eventually, they'll tell the Hokage. Then I'd probably be kicked out of Konoha and labelled a missing-nin. _

**Then we wait. We can get him the same day we get Madara, **Kurama suggests and Naruto giggles. The three teenagers immediately stop what they're doing to stare at him in disbelief, but he won't deny it. Yes, he giggled. What of it? Everyone giggles.

"Oh, are you finally done?" he asks and stands up.

"I knew you were insane, Demon Kimura, but you were _giggling _to yourself," Obito points out and shivers. "Don't do that again. That was creepy."

Naruto sniffs. "I am _not _creepy and neither is my giggling. But that's enough. We came here to train, didn't we?"

Obito groans and shakes his head. "No. I don't want to deal with _you _today."

Naruto gasps, mock-offended as he raises his hand to cover his heart. "You're so mean to me, Obito-_chan_."

Obito splutters. "Oi! Don't call me Obito-chan! That's – that's not –"

"I think it suits you," Rin giggles and Kakashi smiles in amusement.

"I think it does as well, _princess _Obito," Kakashi tells him.

Obito promptly turns red and Naruto barks out a laugh, startling them all. He grins at them. He clears his throat and he turns serious, the three of them following suit. "Before I start training you three, I want to know a few things about you. Your likes, dislikes, your goals for the future… you know, those types of things."

Obito grins at him. "I've already told you this, haven't I, sensei?"

Naruto rolls his eyes. "Yes, but goals, dislikes and likes can change." He looks around himself and then sighs. "Can we sit down to do this? I don't feel like discussing this kind of thing while standing."

They nod and sit.

"Who do you want to go first?" Rin asks and Naruto makes a thoughtful hum and shrugs.

"You can go first, Rin."

She smiles gently at him. "My name is Nohara Rin. My likes are strawberries and people that do anything for their teammates. I dislike tsukudani and bullies. My hobbies are collecting shells and my dream is to be a medic-nin as good as Tsunade of the Sannin."

Naruto smirks. "You've got your work cut out for you, but that's admirable. Hm… Obito, you can go next."

Obito scowls. "Are you going to tell us everything about you afterwards as well, or are you going to do training straight away like last time?"

Naruto's smirk turns into a smile as he looks innocently at the teenage Uchiha. "Of course," he says cheerfully.

The boy continues to look at him with suspicion but rolls his eyes in the end. "My name is Uchiha Obito. I like dango and my teammates. I dislike red beans and aloof assholes. My hobbies include hanging with my friends – and you, sensei – and my dream is become the Hokage."

Naruto grins. "I remember when I had the same dream," he tells him wistfully and he turns to Kakashi. "And, lastly, you, Hatake-san."

He's pretty sure Kakashi is going to respond as he did in his future and he's right. Kakashi says the same thing, word for word. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have many likes and a lot of dislikes. I have some hobbies and… I don't feel like telling you my dreams for the future."

_Dreams for the future, huh, _Naruto mutters and his eyes darken.

He jumps up to his feet and looks down at his bewildered students. "Now, time to train!"

Obito jumps to his feet and points at him with an accusing look. "You're doing the same thing you did last time!"

Naruto rolls his eyes. "Fine, fine, I'll do it then," he grumbles. He strikes a pose reminiscent of Gai and the other three shudder. "My name is Kimura Daiki, I like ramen, I hate the five minutes it takes to cook ramen, I like pranks and watering plants and my dream for the future…" he smiles sadly at them. He thinks about the future _he _had and he vows these kids won't have the same future. Their future will be brighter. "I want to have a bright future filled with the people I love."

Even if he'll never get to interact with those same people, and their personalities will forever be changed. _Everything _about the people from this future will forever be changed. Even the Kakashi he used to look up to will change.

_I'm going to lead a pretty lonely existence, aren't I? _Naruto mutters forlornly.

Kurama barks out a laugh. **You still have me, brat.**

_I'll always have you._

* * *

A year later, Minato is drafted into Hokage candidacy and Minato is accepted as the newly appointed Hokage six months later.

"What are you three doing here?" he asks as soon as he opens his apartment door. The three teenagers stand there on his doorstep with eager and bored faces alternatively. They're nearing up to fifteen years of age, and yet they're _still _not allowed to go on missions on their own without a teacher. Personally, he thinks it's bullshit, but that's just how it is in the past. It's so… weird. As soon as someone's a jounin, they're allowed to do their own solo missions in the future but here, there's an age limit.

"Minato-sensei said _you're_ now our official sensei because he's the Hokage," Kakashi informs him in a dull monotone and Naruto stares at the three blankly. He's too old for a damn team. He's too _busy _for a damn team. Hell, what he's been working on is a _lot _more important than they are, but he rubs his face with the palm of his hand and lets them in all the same. He moves out of the way and they cautiously make their way inside. He closes the door as soon as all of them are in and stares at them with his eyes narrowed.

"What about the other jounin?" he asks suspiciously.

"Minato-sensei said no one else wanted to do it," Obito points out, much to Naruto's consternation. "They said they're 'too old'."

"I'm nearly twenty-nine," Naruto admits softly and this admission garners him a wide-eyed stare from Obito. He scowls at him. "Yes, yes, I'm old. Shut up." He rubs his face again tiredly and looks the three of them over with a critical eye. "I'll be your sensei then – on _one _condition."

"You can't have any conditions," Kakashi replies, raising an eyebrow at him. "This was a demand from the Hokage."

Naruto growls. "Since I didn't get a _say _in it, I have a condition. In the next six months, I'm going to be gone for a week."

"Why don't we go with you?" Obito asks suspiciously.

"Because where I'm going is too dangerous for you three," he informs them.

**There's a chance you might die that week.**

_That's why I don't want them to come with me._

Kurama hums thoughtfully. **I wonder if you'll die because Madara kills you or because Konoha kills you.**

_Konoha will probably execute me or throw me out for good._

Kurama shrugs his massive shoulders and grins down at him. **If you are thrown out and labelled a missing-nin, you'll still be able to do what you set out to do.**

Naruto smiles sadly and it projects visibly on his face. He doesn't notice the three concerned looks he's receiving from his newly-dubbed students. _But when I'm done… what will I do with my life? I won't have anyone to live for. _

**You're right, **Kurama murmurs. **The week before we leave, you should say your goodbyes… but you'll have to make them subtle. Otherwise they might try to do an idiotic thing like **_**follow **_**you.**

He snaps out of the conversation and grins at them, never noticing the concerned expressions on their faces. "So, do we have a deal?"

Obito hesitates, but Rin doesn't. She smiles warmly at him and nods confidently. "Of course."

* * *

Five months and three weeks later, Naruto stands in front of his three students with a heavy resolve. At the end of the week, he'll be heading to the depths of hell to find Madara, and he literally means that. As much as he wishes it was just a metaphor, it's not. It's far from it. After he kills Madara, he'll go after Danzo. And then… Naruto will have no purpose. So, until then, Naruto will spend the week relaxing with his team instead of doing missions or anything tedious.

Seven days to go, including this one.

* * *

**Day 1**

Naruto claps his hands and gains the attention of his three students. "So!" he grins at them. "We're going to have a week of relaxation, so what do you want to do today?"

Kakashi stares at him suspiciously before turning around. "I'm going home."

"Oi!" Naruto barks, grabs the teenager's shoulder and turns him around. "No, no, no. You'll be relaxing with us all week, even if I have to _drag _you everywhere."

"Yeah… I think I'm going to agree with Kakashi on this one," Obito mumbles and Rin nods as well.

* * *

**Day 3**

"Gai!" he grins and Gai's head pops up. A wide grin overcomes the taijutsu user's face and he races over towards Naruto.

"Daiki-sensei!" he yells and Naruto laughs. He's tackled into a hug and he smiles. He looks up into Gai's grinning face.

"My team has ditched me," Naruto informs him, "so would you like to do something with me today?" Gai excitedly nods his head and gets off of Naruto. The blonde follows suit and grins at Gai. "So what do you want to do?"

"I would like to ask Kakashi to a challenge!"

Of _course _the younger Gai would want to ask the younger Kakashi for a challenge. _Nothing changes with Gai,_ he thinks with affection. _Except for his jumpsuit, of course._

**That had to go.**

* * *

**Day 7**

"Well, that week was uneventful," Naruto mutters under his breath. "I didn't even get to spend any quality time with my team."

He looks around himself and adorns the plain white mask and leaves Konoha.

* * *

A week later, he stands in the middle of a river, with Madara and Danzo's blood on him. He collapses into the water, the blood washing off of him and joining the river and he looks up at the sky blankly. He's done his job.

**What about the Uchiha coup? **

His eyes lighten with determination and he stands from the river. His job isn't done yet. He still has to make sure the Uchiha don't plan a coup. That can easily be taken care of; he can just go to Sasuke's father and tell the man that if he hears that the coup is going to continue, he'll kill them all. This time, Itachi will be spared.

* * *

**Well, that could've gone better.**

Naruto chuckles and leaves the Uchiha compound while the guards glare at his back. He's sure the whole compound heard Fugaku's screaming. But, as long as the Uchiha knows he's watching, he's fine with it.

* * *

Over the course of a year, he watches as the fourth great shinobi war ends, Kakashi joins the ANBU, Obito joins the Uchiha police, Rin becomes a medic-nin at the hospital and Kushina becomes pregnant with his younger self. He sits on top of the Hokage Monument, sitting on the Third's head, as he watches everyone go on about their daily lives.

He's got no purpose anymore. He's – successfully – subdued the Uchiha coup and killed Madara, Orochimaru, Kabuto and Danzo. It was laughably easy. _Everything _was laughably easy. He laughs. He laughs until he cries as he sits on top of the Hokage Monument. Maybe this was why Kakashi said that he was a bad teacher that one time. The man felt like he'd done everything useful and had no purpose. Just like Naruto, right now. He has no purpose. The only reason he came into the past was to make his future a better place, but… but now, he doesn't know what to do.

"I don't know what to do," he whispers out loud and doing so makes it concrete. He acknowledges that he has no purpose and he has no idea what to do.

"What are you talking about, sensei?" Obito asks and Naruto turns his weary eyes to the Uchiha. Behind him stand Kakashi and Rin, as well as Minato. He raises an eyebrow at them all before looking out at the village.

He shrugs helplessly. "My life has no purpose now."

"What are you talking about?" Obito repeats and steps closer towards him. Naruto makes no movement to get away or to move closer.

"I've achieved everything I set out to do. Remember my dream about creating a better future? I have it now."

**No you don't, brat, **Kurama mutters.

_Minus all my loved ones, of course. Everyone I know is either dead or from the future. I'll be too old to interact with them when they're old enough._

Kurama nods in acquiesce.

* * *

**Schematic:**_ When team seven realises it's Naruto who rescued Kakashi, Kakashi was still recovering, so he doesn't know Inu's identity. Kakashi's point of view starts six years after Naruto's point of view._

* * *

**Kakashi**

Kakashi, without a doubt, _knows _there's something familiar about his ANBU Captain, Inu. It's in the way the man holds himself, the way he speaks and the various subconscious hand gestures the man uses. He _knows _he's seen the man around somewhere – or even been around the man often enough that he can pinpoint subconscious gestures – but he can't think of _where_. He watches the man from the corner of his eye. There's a slump to his shoulders, a weariness there that hadn't been there before.

It's as if there's a heavy burden on his shoulders, but he doesn't know his Captain enough to ask about it.

"Inu-sama," Weasel says from beside Kakashi. Their Captain turns his head slightly towards him, but doesn't turn around fully to acknowledge him. They're still racing through the trees to get to their mission objective after all. "Is there something wrong?"

It's _exactly _the same thing that Kakashi's been worrying about that he wonders if the other can read minds. He erases the stupid idea out of his mind. The kid – because that's what Weasel is, a _kid_ – has black hair, a trait the Yamanaka clan definitely _does not _have. So, Weasel must've noticed the same Kakashi has.

"Nothing's wrong."

They're silent for the rest of the mission as they kill three jounin level thieves.

* * *

"Yeah, sorry about that!" a voice laughs and Kakashi pauses, cocking his head to the side. The sound, while common on many of his ANBU missions, is not something he's used to around Konoha. Cautiously, he makes his way towards the laugh that's coming from the dango stand. He pokes his head in and sees Obito along with their old sensei, Kimura Daiki. Obito has a prominent grin on his lips and their sensei has a sheepish grin on his face.

"Maa, what's going on here?" he asks and Daiki-sensei's head whips around to stare at him with wide eyes. He notices they've gone a bit glazed and he wonders, for a brief moment, what caused that but then he shrugs inwardly. It's none of _his _business. Obito turns and throws a salute his way. Disappointed, he sits next to Daiki-sensei, who seems to have frozen while staring at him. Starting to get uncomfortable, he nudges the older man slightly. "It's rude to stare."

"Ah, sorry," the man replies sheepishly. The blonde throws a grin his way before looking down at the plate in front of him with a slump to his shoulders, the grin sliding off of his face. Obviously the man was still shaken up with whatever he had seen. _He looks exactly like that time on top of the Hokage Mountain… come to think of it, he disappeared for a couple of years after that._

"What's wrong with you?" Obito asks, concerned.

The man barks out a laugh – the laugh that they've both gotten used to over the years – and he and the Uchiha relax involuntarily. "Nothing, nothing," the man grins, back to his usual exuberant self.

_No, he's not back to himself,_ Kakashi thinks, keeping his eyes on the tension in the man's shoulders and forearms. The man, obviously, is holding something back – but he has no clue as to _what_. Kakashi looks away from Obito and Daiki-sensei, disappointed that the laughter he'd heard before had only led him to these two instead of his ANBU Captain. He pushes himself out of the stool and walks out of the stall and wanders away. It's hopeless trying to find an ANBU that doesn't want to be found. It's _impossible_.

* * *

"How old are you, Inu-sama?" Weasel asks curiously, cocking his head to the side. Kakashi successfully avoids choking as he stares at the two across from him. They're sitting around a campfire, every team member on their own small log. The question Weasel asks Inu is the most personal question they've ever had so far, rivalling the question about their favourite food.

Inu hesitates and stares at Weasel blankly. "Why do you want to know how old I am?"

"Because I want to see how old you are," Weasel replies matter-of-factly. Kakashi fights the urge to hit Weasel in the face or himself in the face, because just wanting to know someone's age, he was sure, was overstepping some sort of boundary.

Inu shrugs. "Well, if you _really_ want to know, I'm thirty-five."

In shinobi years, at thirty-five, by rights, Inu should be _dead_. It's a miracle, in and of itself, that the man is actually _alive_ at his age.

"Thirty-five?" Weasel chokes out, and Kakashi has the same sentiments. Weasel is halfway to being eleven and he, himself, is twenty-two. He didn't expect to be on a team with a leader that was so _old_ and he's sure that Weasel hadn't expected it either. Hell, he's sure _no one _expects it. Usually people older than twenty-five are kicked out of ANBU for being too old and are sent to become forever-jounin.

"Well, I'm definitely the oldest ANBU, I suppose," the man muses. Weasel and Kakashi nod their heads in agreement. "But, my best friend and sensei was forty-one and he was still a jounin."

Kakashi's eyes widen. A jounin that old? He doesn't think he's seen anyone _that _old as a jounin. Hell, he doesn't think he's even seen a _chuunin _that old.

* * *

"Inu-sama," Weasel intones and their Captain sighs wearily and turns around to stare at the ten and a half year old. Kakashi stifles a giggle, clearing his throat instead.

"Weasel-san," the man says in exasperation, "please stop calling me 'Inu-sama'. Call me Inu or Inu-san or Inu-kun or even Inu-_chan_ if you have to. Just stop calling me Inu-sama. It makes me feel really old. Actually, it makes me feel like a king with concubines. I don't like that feeling when I'm with my teammates."

This time, Kakashi chokes while Weasel cocks his head to the side, confused. Kakashi _swears _he can feel a smirk aimed at him, but when he looks up, Inu isn't even looking at them anymore. Of course Weasel wouldn't know what a concubine is.

Weasel huffs. "I don't want to call you anything except for Inu-sama," the black-haired child says and their Captain sighs. "By the way, I have another question."

Inu rolls his eyes. "Go on."

"Why aren't we going to the destination the scroll specifies us to be?"

"Because the destination is obviously a trap," Inu replies and continues walking in the direction to Konoha. Kakashi chuckles under his breath, earning a mild glare from Weasel. It's always entertaining when Inu's around.

* * *

A few months later, Weasel is promoted to ANBU Captain and is changed to another team while another team member is placed on their team. Their new teammate, Tori, is definitely more subdued than Weasel ever was, trailing behind them instead of talking. Of course, the only person that would talk in their previous team was mostly Weasel, while Kakashi and Inu only responded whenever they were asked something explicitly.

* * *

"_TORI_!" Inu screams and Kakashi jerks his head to the side to stare at the man. Chakra is bubbling to the surface, ready to fight, but as he watches, the chakra is pushed down, away and subdued. Frantically, he looks around trying to find where Tori is. Giving up, he looks over to Inu who's on his knees, a body in his arms. Kakashi's heart stops and he goes over to the two. Tori is in Inu's arms, lying their limply with her eyes wide. He cringes. "Quick, Ookami, help me stem the blood flow."

"Inu-san, she's dead," he whispers and kneels beside his Captain. The man jerks away, his arms flinching around the dead body he holds in his arms, his neck cracking with the force of turning his head away. Kakashi sighs and places his hand gently on the man's shoulder. "Inu –"

"I know she is," the man snaps and Kakashi immediately quietens. He watches as the man tenderly picks the woman up off of his lap and stands with her in his arms. The man grunts, but doesn't loosen his hold. "C'mon. We've finished here. Let's go home."

Kakashi nods his acceptance and they leave the battlefield behind.

* * *

A week later, Kakashi finds Inu at Tori's gravestone, placing a bouquet of flowers beside her name. The man leans heavily on his knees and, from this angle, he can see that the man has closed his eyes. Kakashi moves closer and places a hand on the man's shoulder. Even though they had only been Tori's team for a few months, they had grown attached to her witty rebukes and her sarcastic nature.

"Inu-san," he says softly.

"Hey Ookami," Inu mutters and turns his head to smile up at him. His eyes are crinkled at the corners. "We should just stay a team with just you and me."

"I'd like that," Kakashi replies softly.

He's always admired his team captain; the man's always been there for him and, in turn, Kakashi has always been there for his team captain. Now that Weasel's gone, the only person to support them is each other.

* * *

"I quit," Inu whispers to himself. Kakashi freezes and turns to look behind him. Inu has taken residence on his windowsill, his back to the outside world. His eyes are closed and he looks calm. Kakashi swallows and wonders how he's going to get out of this. His _captain _is on his windowsill at his house; he's _just _taken off his ANBU uniform and mask and put it where he usually does _and _he's just come out of his shower. He clears his throat.

"You quit what?" he squeaks. He clenches his eyes shut, mortified that _that _had come out of his mouth. Why did he have to squeak in front of his _captain_? Of _course_ the first person to ever hear Kakashi be undignified is his captain.

"Sorry," the man says. His eyes are still closed. "I didn't mean for you to hear that."

"If you didn't mean for me to hear that, then why are you on my _windowsill_?" The man opens his eyes, startled, and Kakashi's face goes up in flames. The man knows where he lives _and _knows who he is. He narrows his eyes at the man, who doesn't seem to be apologetic in the slightest. Just startled that Kakashi had pointed out that the man was basically inside his _house_. He's immediately suspicious. "How do you know where I live? How do you know who I _am_?"

The man stares at him in the eyes. "I know who you are because I've smelt your scent around. I know where you live because I followed your scent. I'm here because you're comforting to me."

Kakashi, while flattered, is still mortified. He's basically _naked _in his home and his captain has seen him like this. His cheeks burn hotter and he's fairly sure his face is as red as a tomato. He's been undressed around Inu before, but they hadn't been _looking _at each other then. He clears his throat. "Would you be able to turn around so I can get dressed?"

The man freezes and he's fairly sure he can see a tinge of pink crawling up the man's neck. So, the man isn't as unaffected as the man has led him to believe. "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to come when you were in the middle of getting dressed," the man admits and looks around the room at anything else _except _for Kakashi. "I, uh, I can't exactly turn around on a windowsill, so I don't…"

"I – I'll just go get dressed in my bathroom then," Kakashi whispers, grabs his clothing and runs to the bathroom. He shuts the door behind him and groans softly, hitting his forehead with the palm of his hand. The one time he _doesn't _decide to get dressed properly in his bathroom is the day his captain decides to give him a visit. As entertaining as his captain usually is, _this _is anything but entertaining. He quickly dresses and, once he's done, he goes back into his room, where Inu is still patiently waiting. "Did you want to come in?"

"Ah," the man nods, and steps into the room. He looks around curiously for a moment, but his eyes soon turn towards Kakashi. "I'm… I'm really sorry about that. Would you be more comfortable if I showed you who I am, as well?"

Kakashi swallows. _I'm finally going to see who my captain is? What if I'm disappointed? No, no, I can't be disappointed… no matter who he is, he's still the same person. _He nods his head hesitantly and the man slowly walks towards him. His eyes are glued to Kakashi's and his blue eyes – _familiar blue eyes_ – are darkened with an unnameable emotion. The man hesitates and then, very slowly, takes his ANBU mask off.

Under it are blue eyes, whisker marks and blue hair. Kakashi's eyes widen. "Daiki-sensei?"

A weak smile answers him. "Yeah…" he whispers.

Kakashi feels disappointment rise in his chest. He'd thought the man under the mask would be someone more reliable, more mature, but under the mask is just the same, immature man from six years ago. The same man who joked around with Obito more often than not and basically ignored him and Rin. Oh, sure, they were included in nearly everything, but their banter would always be there – a constant presence. But then, the man had started to train Obito before them and, back then, Kakashi openly admits that Obito needed the training more than Rin and himself.

But the fact of the matter is, _Inu _is Daiki-sensei; the _unreliable_, _immature _sensei.

He shakes his head and looks down at the ground. He can't deal with this today. Before, he told himself that he wouldn't be disappointed, no matter who is under the mask, but right now? He feels disappointed, because this man before him is a _disappointment._

The man must've seen the look on his face, because the weak grin is slowly wiped off of his face. The man nods to himself and then says 'goodbye' and 'goodnight' and then he's gone. It's as if he was never here in the first place.

* * *

The next day, when he turns up at the mission desk, Inu – Daiki-sensei – isn't there to greet him.

* * *

A week later, he's concerned. His team captain is gone and so is his old sensei. He's come to terms with Inu and Daiki-sensei being the same person and, whenever he thinks about it, disappointment doesn't come to him as easily as it used to. Now there's just overwhelming _affection_.

"Obito," Kakashi greets, giving a two-fingered wave to the Uchiha. Obito grins at him and gestures for him to sit down. He looks around and notices the absence of Daiki-sensei, which has become unusual. It's been a _week _since Kakashi last saw the man – both on and off missions – so he's concerned. "Have you seen Daiki-sensei around?"

"A week ago," Obito admits and Kakashi raises an eyebrow, before his eyes narrow.

"Do you know where he's gone?"

Obito hesitates before his lips tug down at the corners into a frown. "I don't think I should tell you."

"But I'm his teammate."

"I'm his teammate as well," Obito snaps. A sigh escapes him and he slouches. "If you _really_ want to know, Daiki-sensei's gone somewhere to sulk."

"Sulk?" Kakashi asks incredulously. "Why is he –"

Obito sends a glare at him. "Obviously because someone hurt his feelings," the man snaps. He growls, pushes himself away from the bar and stands up. He looks down at Kakashi before shaking his head and leaving. Bewildered, Kakashi just watches the man leave, wondering what the hell _that _was all about.

* * *

"Yo, Ookami-san," Inu says, a cheerful grin in his voice. Kakashi turns around and smiles at the man.

"Inu!" he replies. "Where the hell have _you _been?"

The man rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "Ah, here and there. Sorry I worried you."

* * *

Kakashi glances at the man beside him, who seems to be overflowing with cheerful energy. The last time he saw the man, the man had been subdued and nervous, but now the man was obnoxiously _cheerful_. There was no longer a slump to his shoulders, neither was there any tenseness in his muscles.

"Staring's rude," Inu points out and Kakashi shakes his head, smiling. Of course the man would remember what he said a while ago.

"Sorry, I was just thinking," Kakashi apologises and the man waves him off.

"Nah, it's fine. That happens a lot to me too."

"Thinking?"

"No. Getting lost in my thoughts."

* * *

"Inu," Kakashi whispers and the man turns around with a curious tilt to his head. "I'm sorry about before."

"You'll have to expand on that," Inu scowls. "I can't remember _everything_ you've said to me, you know?"

Kakashi grins. "I'm sorry for not responding correctly when you showed me who you were at my house. I wasn't… I wasn't thinking right, then."

The man stares at him suspiciously. "Are you _sure_?"

"Positive."

The man hums in response and replies with a cheerful, "thanks!"

* * *

Daiki-sensei rolls over in his sleep and Kakashi watches, amused. The man is adorable when he sleeps. A few months ago, he would've been horrified that he even thinks this way but his captain, but now, it feels almost natural. It feels _completely _natural, actually.

* * *

"Daiki-sensei –" he greets and, as he's about to continue with his sentence, he's cut off.

"You can call me Daiki."

"Only if you call me Kakashi," he replies with a grin and Daiki smiles back. He takes a step forward and watches as the man takes a step back. He scowls mockingly. "Stop moving."

"You keep walking closer to me," the man whines. "Bad things usually happen when someone does that."

"I won't do anything bad, I promise," Kakashi replies, amused. The man continues to stare at him suspiciously, but he doesn't move. Once Kakashi's close enough, he pecks the older man's cheek and watches as the man's face promptly turns red. He chuckles.

The man screeches and points at him with a horrified look on his face. "What'd you do _that _for?!"

"Oh, that's easy," Kakashi grins, "it's because I like you."

Daiki splutters. "A couple of weeks ago you hated me! What are you doing?!"

Kakashi shrugs. "I've changed my mind," and he leans forward and kisses the man on the lips. The man's cheeks redden even more and he chuckles. He dances away from the swat he receives in response.

"Kakashi…" the man warns.

"Fine," he sighs and pouts. "I won't do anything else."

* * *

Daiki smiles at him with an amused glint in his eyes and, instantly, he's suspicious and on guard. He has no idea what's in the older man's thoughts, but he knows that whatever it is, it can't be anything good for Kakashi. The man takes out a package and hands it to him, a broad grin on his face all the while. He stares at the package suspiciously and then looks up at the man.

"What –"

The man kisses his lips and leaves his house via the window, a chuckle escaping him as he leaves. Kakashi raises an eyebrow at the abrupt exit and looks down at the package in his hands. Immediately, he opens it and the book "Icha Icha Paradise" greets him. He groans and hits his face with the book. What the hell was going on in that old man's mind?

* * *

"Did you read page fifty-five?" Daiki asks cheerfully out of nowhere. Kakashi startles badly and turns around, only to come face to face with Daiki's equally cheerful face. He scowls.

"No. I haven't even read it."

The man pouts. "It's been a week!"

"I still won't read it."

"That's what you say now…" the man mutters to himself and then he vanishes.

Kakashi shakes his head, the conversation already purging itself from his mind.

* * *

"Kakashi, did you read page fifty-five?"

Kakashi startles and flails. His mug goes flying and he watches it as it lands unceremoniously – and broken – on the floor after it hits the wall. He turns to glare at the man. "No," he snarls.

That was his favourite mug!

* * *

"Kakashi, did you –"

"No I haven't!" he snaps. "I haven't read it, and I never will! Will you stop _pestering _me about it?!"

Daiki pouts and turns around the way he came.

* * *

After a week that he doesn't hear from Daiki again, he sighs and finally gives in. He reads the whole of Icha Icha Paradise and, once he's finished, he goes over to Daiki's apartment and knocks on the door.

Daiki opens the door and, as soon as he lays eyes on Kakashi, he pouts. "What are you doing here?"

"I read it," he replies and a blush rises to his cheeks when he notices the other man leering at him.

"So you read page fifty-five?" he asks and Kakashi hesitates. He's read the whole book, but he still has no idea what Daiki's asking him. The man pouts. "Come back when you know what it says."

* * *

Kakashi jumps into Daiki's apartment and, when he notices the man's not in the room, he barges into the bathroom, fully expecting the man to be dressed and brushing his teeth.

He's wrong.

The man is naked and brushing his teeth. The man turns around at his entrance and stares at him with a bored expression on his face.

"So, did you read it?"

Ignoring Daiki's nakedness for now, he grins and nods. "Yes."

"So you…?"

"Yes."

Daiki grins at him, steps closer to him and pulls him into a hug. The man pulls Kakashi's mask down and kisses Kakashi on the lips.

* * *

_**Page fifty-five, paragraph 3: "I love you."**_

* * *

**Notes: **_Kimura means tree village. Daiki means "large, great" and "tree". (Dai for large, great" and ki for "tree". (Depending on the kanji.) Don't blame me for Naruto's name. It seems like something Naruto would do under pressure. Can you imagine saying his name, though? With how the Japanese put so much meaning into a name? "Hi Large Great Tree Tree Village." I foresee massive facepalms in Naruto's future. It's so obviously fake and no one can say anything about it._

**Prompt by Moonstone blaze: **_Naruto, in his late twenties, time travels to the [canon] past and helps Konoha out in the shadows_

**Schematic: **_I mucked up the timeline, but who cares? I care. But I hope you don't care. Also I kept saying bad things about Gai's spandex, but you know I love that jumpsuit. Their ages are all messed up. Ugh. Psst, Naruto was supposed to die after the "Daiki-sensei wasn't there to greet him" bit. _

**PROMPT ORDER****:**

**theacer250**_; My Fox_


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